Premium
A multi‐centre study on patients dying from COVID‐19: communication between clinicians, patients and their families
Author(s) -
Everitt Rachel,
Wong Aaron K.,
Wawryk Olivia,
Le Brian,
Yoong Jaclyn,
Pisasale Maria,
Mendis Ruwani,
Philip Jennifer
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/imj.15788
Subject(s) - medicine , end of life care , covid-19 , retrospective cohort study , health care , quality of life (healthcare) , cause of death , palliative care , family medicine , nursing , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , economic growth
Background COVID‐19 has led to challenges in providing effective and timely communication in healthcare. Services have been required to adapt and evolve as successful communication remains core to high‐quality patient‐centred care. Aim To describe the communication between admitted patients, their families and clinicians (medical, nursing, allied health) during end‐of‐life care. Methods This retrospective review included all patients ( n = 230) who died directly due to COVID‐19 at five Melbourne hospitals between 1 January and 31 December 2020. Contacts and modality used (face to face, video, telephone) during the 8 days prior to death were recorded. Results Patients were predominantly elderly (median age 86 years) and from residential aged care facilities (62%; n = 141). Communication frequency increased the closer the patient was to death, where on day of death, contact between clinicians and patients was 93% ( n = 213) clinicians and families 97% ( n = 222) and between patients and families 50% ( n = 115). Most contact between patients and families was facilitated by a clinician (91.3% ( n = 105) day of death) with the most commonly used mode being video call ( n = 30 day of death). Conclusion This study is one of the first and largest Australian reports on how communication occurs at the end of life for patients dying of COVID‐19. Contact rates were relatively low between patients and families, compared with other cohorts dying from non‐COVID‐19 related causes. The impact of this difference on bereavement outcomes requires surveillance and attention.