Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Jun 2005
The place of death of cancer patients: can qualitative data add to known factors?
Research on the distribution of cancer deaths by setting-hospital, hospice, home, other--is longstanding, but has been given fresh impetus in the UK by policy commitments to increase the proportion of deaths occurring in patients' homes. Studies of factors associated with the location of cancer deaths fall into two main categories: geo-epidemiological interrogations of routinely collected death registration data, and prospective and retrospective cohort studies of terminally ill cancer patients. ⋯ New factors can be grouped under the headings: service infrastructure, patient and carer attitudes, and cultures of practice. Such an approach provides useful information for policy makers and practitioners in palliative care.