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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to identify the trends of location of death in long term care and home between 1999 and 2007.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to compare this current distribution of location of death with the future predications of year 2020.
Purpose:
This project uses a national database to evaluate the policy implications of trends in death location in the U.S. population between 1999 and 2007.
Methods:
Secondary data analysis of Multiple Cause of Death Files from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were conducted. Those files include death certificates information submitted by years. Our analyses identified temporal trends in the distribution of location of death. Locations of death include: 1) Home or residence 2) Hospital settings - in patient. 3) Hospital settings - out patient 4) Long term care and hospice 5) Unknown locations, and 6) Dead on arrival. Trends with identified through linear regression analysis were used to predict frequencies of deaths in long term care and home settings through 2020.
Findings:
Nationally, the number of deaths was very steady (1%) between 1999 and 2007. In contrast, there was a larger change in the distribution of death locations during those years. In-patient hospital deaths decreased from 42 percent of all deaths in 1999 to 38 percent in 2007. Deaths in long term care facilities or in the home increased from 21% and 22% in 1999 to 24% and 27% in 2007, respectively. Linear regression was used to forecast the percentage of deaths in each location category by the year 2020. The trend lines showed that, by 2020, the percentage of deaths occurring in long term care will increase by 7% and by 8% in home settings.
Conclusions/implications:
Long term and home care needs will increase in the future. Nurses are the healthcare providers in these settings. There is a need for greater emphasis on geriatric issues in nursing education and in continuing education for nurses in long-term care and home care settings.