Hospitalisation and use of medication of Danish nursing home residents at the end of life.

Introduction: The end-of-life period remains sparsely investigated in Danish nursing home residents. This study aimed to estimate medication use, drug reimbursement for terminal illness and hospital admissions and to compare these estimates between two groups of nursing home residents.

Methods: This small-scale observational study was based on residents who died while residing in a nursing home in 2019.

Increased rate of home-death among patients in a Danish general practice.

Introduction: Most terminally ill patients wish to die at home. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the home-death rate was higher than the Danish average in a general practice with a systematic approach to palliative care and to examine if the number of clinical contacts between the practice and its patients was associated with place of death.

Methods: In a large (6,500 patients) four-doctor general practice outside of Copenhagen, adult patients who died between 2015 and 2018 were identified.

Death in nursing homes: a Danish qualitative study.

Little is known about the quality of end-of-life care in Danish nursing homes (NHs). This qualitative descriptive study based on semi-structured group interviews with nursing staff members in three NHs in Copenhagen, Denmark, aimed to describe the participants' perceptions of end-of-life care in Danish NHs, with particular focus on medication administration and collaboration with GPs. Four main categories of problematic issues emerged: medication (problems with 'as needed' medication and lack of knowledge of subcutaneous administration), interpersonal relations (difficulties in cooperation and communication between relatives and GPs), decision making (problems concerning termination of life-prolonging treatment and the need for early planning of end-of-life care), and professional development (documentation and education).

Low confidence among general practitioners in end-of-life care and subcutaneous administration of medicine.

Introduction: Most terminally ill patients prefer to die at home, and the general practitioner (GP) is central in making this possible. However, knowledge is needed about the GP's level of confidence in assuming this task and with subcutaneous (SC) administration of medicine in end-of-life care. The aim of this study was to determine if GPs used SC needle and medication in end-of-life care, if they felt confident about being principally responsible for palliative trajectories and whether such confidence was associated with GP characteristics.