Hospice offers holistic support for individuals living with terminal illness and their caregivers. However, some individuals who enroll onto hospice services do not decline in health as quickly as determined by current regulations, termed a ‘live discharge.’ Persons with dementia are among those who experience a live discharge due to the slow physical decline associated with the disease. When a live discharge occurs, it affects not only the patient but also the caregiver(s).
Results of this study have implications for social workers supporting an increasing aging population and their caregivers in various health care settings and highlight the need to view a live discharge as a discharge of the patient-caregiver unit, rather than the patient alone.
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