The Gerontologist
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Concordance of family and staff member reports about end of life in assisted living and nursing homes.
To identify differences in perspectives that may complicate the process of joint decision making at the end of life, this study determined the agreement of family and staff perspectives about end-of-life experiences in nursing homes and residential care/assisted living communities and whether family and staff roles, involvement in care, and interaction are associated with such agreement. ⋯ Family and staff perspectives about end-of-life experiences may differ substantially; efforts can be made to improve family-staff communication and interaction for joint decision making.