Dying in Place: Factors Associated with Hospice Use in Assisted Living and Residential Care Communities in Oregon

Abstract

Hospice use among assisted living residents may support aging in place. A cross-sectional survey was used to characterize variation in the health and personal care needs of Oregon assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) residents who did and did not receive hospice services. All AL communities licensed in Oregon as of fall 2019 were asked to answer questions about three randomly selected residents. A final sample of 998 residents was included in the analysis. Multiple variable logistic regression was used to examine associations between resident- and community-level characteristics and hospice use. While hospice services provide supplemental support for AL residents’ end-of-life process, our findings show that residents often receive continued assistance from AL staff as their condition deteriorates.

Keywords:

• hospice
• assisted living
• long-term care
• Oregon

Disclosure statement

The Oregon Department of Human Services paid for the costs associated with data collection. The data analysis for this manuscript did not receive any funding from agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The Oregon Department of Human Services was not involved in the study design or preparation of this manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Survey data collection was supported by the Oregon Department of Human Services. There was no funding support associated with the preparation of this manuscript.