title: End-of-life care in U.S. nursing homes: a review of the evidence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to systematically review the empiric evidence on end-of-life care in nursing homes in the United States The guiding research question for this review was what is the state of research evidence in end-of-life care in long-term care?
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review of the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review was limited to published and indexed research in peer-reviewed journals in five major databases between 1995 and October 2002.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The initial search yielded a total of 395 articles. The search was narrowed, focusing on nursing homes in the United States and empiric research. The result was 43 articles related to research in end-of-life care in American nursing homes. It was categorized into eight foci: prognosis, pain, hospice, hospitalization, advanced care planning, communication, family perceptions, and miscellaneous.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a dearth of research published in end-of-life care in the nursing home setting. What is available is primarily descriptive. The empiric research only documents poor end-of-life care in U.S. nursing homes. Empiric evidence has grown in this area, but there is now a need for research of creative and innovative solutions aimed at improving the quality of end-of-life care in this setting.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65212, USA. oliverdr@missouri.edu
authors.forename: Debra Parker
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Davina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porock
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zweig
mesh_terms: D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States