Do standards of care differ based on the type of hospice care?
The main Working Group for developing these standards defined Community Residential Hospice as “a homelike alternative to institutional care for those requiring end-of-life care (viii).” It has been shown through various studies that many clients prefer either home care or a homelike atmosphere when receiving end-of-life care. Many clients and/or their family members have reported a range of differences in the standards and/or quality of treatment received in a hospital setting versus home or residential hospice care. In Victoria, BC, a Canadian survey in 2005 established that patients and their family members are dissatisfied with the quality of end of life care provided in inpatient care settings. A study in BC showed that dissatisfaction with acute hospital care was one of the primary reasons why family members opt to provide end of life care at home, even when they are unprepared or reluctant to do so, or when care becomes overly burdensome for them.
