Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR
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J Intellect Disabil Res · Mar 2015
'To move or not to move': a national survey among professionals on beliefs and considerations about the place of end-of-life care for people with intellectual disabilities.
The aim of this article was to investigate the beliefs and considerations of professionals concerning an appropriate environment for end-of-life care for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). ⋯ Professionals agree that end-of-life care for people with ID should preferably take place in the client's home environment, even when nursing expertise, experience and adequate equipment are not (yet) in place. Nonetheless, a lack of expertise in end-of-life care is the foremost consideration in decisions to move a client. If ID care services want to promote end-of-life care in the client's own home, we recommend formulating a policy on how to realise end-of-life care in the client's own home environment and provide sufficient training and support for staff. To involve people with ID as much as possible, we recommend that professionals integrate more collaborative principles in decision-making about the place of end-of-life care.