Meaning and Influencing Factors of a Good Death for Community-Dwelling Individuals With Dementia: An Integrative Review.
Jong Sun Park, Hannah Cho, Won Seok Park and 1 others
PMID 41968118WHAT IT FOUND
People with dementia and families described a good death as pain-free, at home, with family present, dignity and autonomy, and meaningful activities.
Community resources and advance care planning were linked to these views.
Key findings
01A good death was described as peaceful, pain-free, at home, with family present, dignity and autonomy, and meaningful activities.
02Community hospice and palliative services, professional support, day care or home health services, and caregiver resources were structural factors tied to quality end-of-life care.
03Advance care planning, symptom management, person-centred care, emergency and safety management, and caregiver education were process factors tied to quality end-of-life care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only English-language peer-reviewed studies were included, so non-English and narrative caregiver perspectives may be missing. The included studies used different definitions and measures of good death, making synthesis inconsistent. Quality varied: 11 qualitative studies could not be judged for appropriateness of the qualitative approach, and one descriptive study had high non-response bias. The review does not test whether any factor causes a good death.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research, grant T32NR009356. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these factors as proof that hospice, advance care planning, or caregiver education caused a good death. The review synthesises perspectives and associations, not tested interventions.