Assessing palliative care unit inpatients for residential aged care placement: Is it worth it?

Abstract

Background: Increasing demand for palliative care unit (PCU) admissions has led to a stronger focus on discharge planning. This has resulted in shorter inpatient length of stays (LOS), and stable patients not requiring specialist palliative care services being referred for placement in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). The process of placement is time-consuming and can be distressing to patients and families, so RACF placement should only be proposed in patients whose prognosis is relatively good (i.e., weeks to months). Objective: Our aim was to identify the outcomes of palliative care inpatients referred for residential aged care placement. Methods: A retrospective chart audit was ..