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| Friday, 14 January 2005: 8:00 AM-9:45 AM | |||
| Orchid C (Hyatt Regency Miami) | |||
| End-of-Life Perspectives: Family and Elders | |||
| Organizer: | Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD, The University of iowa | ||
| Discussant: | Nancy Hooyman, PhD, University of Washington | ||
| End-of life challenges, fears, and care preferences: Congruence in reports of low-income elders and their family members Betty J. Kramer, PhD | |||
| Assessment of Family Caregiver Strain During End-of-Life Hospice Care Aloen L. Townsend, PhD, Karen J. Ishler, MA, Elizabeth H. Vargo, MSSA, LISW, Elizabeth Ford Pitorak, MSN, APRN, Carol R. Matthews, MSN, APRN, Beth M. Shapiro, MSSA, LISW | |||
| End-of-life care preferences of family members caring for an older relative: A longitudinal perspective Marilyn K. Luptak, PhD | |||
| Nursing home family members' role expectations as the end of life draws near Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD | |||
| Format: | Symposium | ||
| Abstract Text: This symposium focuses on the perspectives of older adults who are approaching death and their families. Family members have always had a major role in supporting loved ones who are approaching death. But during the 20th century trends in dying changed dramatically,placing greater strains on elders and their family members. Rather than families facing the deaths of people across the life span--including infants and mothers--as was common in the earlier part of this century, increasingly death is occurring in old age after years or decades of chronic illness. With unprecedented public health and medical improvements, more people are surviving to reach old age. Over 75% of annual deaths occur to people age 65 and older—with 40% of deaths occurring to people age 80 and older. These demographic and health changes, along with resource restraints inherent in the current health care systems, have ushered in profound social changes in terms of societal and personal expectations on family caregivers. The papers in this symposium examine salient themes in end-of-life care that involve family members, including care preferences and advance care planning, caregiver strain, and other psychosocial issues. Four different health care settings are represented in the symposium: hospice, hospitals, nursing homes, and a managed care program. The first paper discusses congruence related to care preferences among low-income elders and their family caregivers. The second paper examines the end-of-life care preferences of family members who have had the experience of caring for an older relative. The third paper reports family role expectations when an elder is approaching death as a nursing home resident. These three papers report qualitative findings. The fourth paper will discuss the development of a quantitative measure for assessing family caregiver strain as the end of life approaches. Social workers have much to offer family members in terms of identifying and addressing psychosocial issues related to making decisions about health care and being supportive caregivers to elders. Each paper in this symposium will consider ways in which the social work role can be strengthened to address the psychosocial needs of families as they face the end of life. These studies, drawing from different care settings and using multiple methodologies, enable us to envision a broader picture of social work’s potential contributions during end-of-life care. | |||
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