Life Before Death, 1987

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><br>1. To describe the last year in the lives of a random sample of adults dying in 1987.<br> 2. To make comparisons with an earlier study* and identify change in the nature and availability of care and in the attitudes and expectations of lay and professional carers.<br> 3. To make some assessment of the influence of the hospice movement on these changes.<br> 4. To describe in more detail than the previous 1969 study, the institutional care of people in the year preceeding their death.<br> 5. To determine the experience and views of the doctors and nurses involved in the care of these people in the last year of their lives.<br> 6. To describe the care and support given to close relatives both after and before the death.<br> *An earlier study &lt;i&gt;Life Before Death, 1969&lt;/i&gt; is held at the Data Archive as Study No. 393.<br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br>Methodological issues in studying life before death; the roles of professionals, hospitals, hospices, residential and nursing homes, and day centres in caring for the dying; the balance of care; hospice deaths and cancer deaths; experiences of those who died and those who cared for them; changes since 1969.<br> Characteristics of the general practitioners were obtained from DHSS data.