Development of support for the decision making program about the end period of the old cancer patient

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24593308
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Clinical nursing
• Research Institution: Seirei Christopher University (2015); Ehime University (2012-2014)
• Principal Investigator: MORI Kazue 聖隷クリストファー大学, 看護学部, 教授 (10210113)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SUGIMOTO Tomoko 千葉県立保健医療大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (00314922) ; KUDO Tomoko 岩手県立大学, 看護学部, 准教授 (50305265)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 高齢がん患者 / ギアチェンジ / 意思決定 / 在宅ケア / 終末期看護

Outline of Final Research Achievements

When doctors advise elderly patients with cancer to transfer from hospital to home, we examined their decision making. Our findings showed that most of the family members taking care of the elderly patients felt that the period of home health care was too short. We also found that the family members avoided the discussion over the end-of-life care because they believed that asking the patients directly about their will might hurt their feeling by reminding them of approaching death. However, most of the family members reported that they regretted about their care after the patient’s death because they were not sure whether their patient’s wishes were fulfilled or not.
We concluded that elderly patients with cancer and their family members, who are caregivers, need a communication tool to record and share their values and views of life before they reach their final stage of life. We developed a cooperative life review journal to facilitate their difficult decision making process.

Free Research Field

がん看護