“I finally feel like I have help. Before, I was completely alone” : A grounded theory of community-based hospice transitions

“I finally feel like I have help. Before, I was completely alone”: A grounded theory of community-based hospice transitions
Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing; by Catherine M. Mann, Hannah Maciejewski, Suzanne S. Sullivan; 10/24
Little is known about community-based transitions to home hospice care... Our results generated an emerging grounded theory of the hospice care transition processes rooted in maintaining personhood and autonomy. There were 5 contemporaneous steps: (1) recognizing futility and pursuing comfort; (2) seeking help and input as health declines; (3) shopping for the right services, overcoming obstacles, and self-referring to hospice care; (4) attending to the business of dying while living; and (5) processing and expressing emotions. Although not central to the care transition process, an additional step was identified that occurred after the transition to hospice care: planning for an uncertain future. The hospice care transition process identified in the study reveals important mechanistic targets for the development of interventions that promote patient-centered hospice care transitions in the home setting.