Rachel Pumphrey, Frances Badge
Abstract
Care homes for older people are major providers of end-of-life care – that is, care during the last years of life. There are over half a million deaths a year in the UK, the vast majority occurring among older people, and one in five members of the population dies in a care home. Ensuring the provision of high quality end-of-life care in care homes for older people is an important healthcare issue, and has recently been scrutinized as part of an overall review of end-of-life care in the UK. It is acknowledged that little is known either about the numbers of people from black and minority ethnic groups who are resident in care homes, or about the extent to which their end-of-life care needs are addressed in line with their specific requirements. This paper summarizes the current research evidence on cultural issues relating to ethnicity in end-of-life care in care homes, identifying the need for both monitoring and research data on the experiences and perspectives of residents from black and ethnic minorities, and their family carers.