Journal of gerontological social work
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J Gerontol Soc Work · Nov 2011
The living-dying interval in nursing home-based end-of-life care: family caregivers' experiences.
Guided by concepts from the living-dying interval ( Pattison, 1977 ) this study sought to explore family members' experiences with a dying nursing home resident. In-depth interviews were conducted with 31 caregivers of residents who had died. ⋯ Themes that illuminated families' experiences on the living-dying interval were: an acute medical crisis (trigger events, accumulation of stressors, level of care crisis); the living-dying phase (advance care planning, hospitalization, end-stage decisions); and the terminal phase (beginning of the end, awareness of dying). The results illustrate critical periods for social work intervention with families of dying nursing home residents.
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J Gerontol Soc Work · Nov 2011
Welfare reform and elderly immigrants' health insurance coverage: the roles of federal and state medicaid eligibility rules.
Immigrants' access to federally-funded Medicaid became limited after welfare reform imposed restrictive noncitizen eligibility rules. This study used a representative sample from the Current Population Survey (N = 105,873) and state-level data to examine the effects of these policy changes on elderly immigrants. ⋯ Findings indicate the important role of eligibility on elderly immigrants' health insurance coverage. Results call for social workers' actions to expand elderly immigrants' Medicaid eligibility.