Dying at home more peaceful for terminally-ill patients; better for family, study reveals

A UK research reveals that terminally-ill patients who die at home pass more peacefully than those in hospitals. Additionally, it also found that their families cope better with grief.

The study, which was detailed on the journal BMC Medicine, studied the deaths of more than 350 cancer patients and their relatives. Half of those who passed did so in the hospital and the other half at home. The researchers asked the surviving loved ones about the last week of life of the patients including validated questions about the patient's pain and their grief levels.

According to Barbara Gomes from London, UK's Cicely Saunders Institute at King's College, in the study with what is called "the most comprehensive population-based study to date of factors and outcomes associated with dying at home compared to hospital,"  she has observed that those who died at home were more peaceful and the grief of relatives were much lower.

"We know that many patients fear being at home believing they place an awful burden on their family. However, we found that grief was actually less intense for relatives of people who died at home," Gomes said via Eureka Alert.

"Many people with cancer justifiably fear pain. So it is encouraging that we observed patients dying at home did not experience greater pain than those in hospitals where access to pain relieving drugs may be more plentiful. They were also reported to have experienced a more peaceful death than those dying in hospital."

Additionally, the research also found that people who died at home did not experience pain as much as those who were in hospitals which are stocked with more pain medications. It also revealed that patients are more comforted when surrounded by loved ones and friends. The surviving relatives also reported less grief by the family member's peaceful passing, according to NPR.

However, a group of experts in contact with MedPage Today about the study were not so keen on the results. They argued that home is not "always the best and preferred place of death" in London, US or anywhere in the world.

Dr. Lachlan Forrow of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center told the outlet that while majority of surveyed patients say that they prefer dying at home, many patients are actually opposed to it.

Dr. Jerome Gaber of NYC's Montefiore Einstein Medical Center argued that while high-level home hospice care can be an option for families to their loved ones, there are others who may not up to the task of taking care of a dying loved one. They may find caring for them too much as most families do not provide 24-hour hospice care for terminally ill patients and the unpredictability of the situation may cause family members distress.