title: Using the LCP: bereaved relatives' assessments of communication and bereavement.
abstract: The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) is aimed at improving care and communication in the dying phase. The authors studied whether use of the LCP affects relatives' retrospective evaluation of communication and their level of bereavement. An intervention study was conducted. During the baseline period, usual care was provided to dying patients. During the intervention period, the LCP was used for 79% of the patients. In total, bereaved relatives filled in a questionnaire for 57% of the patients, on average 4 months after death. In the intervention period, relatives had lower bereavement levels when compared with relatives in the baseline period (P = .01). Communication was evaluated similarly for both periods. We conclude that LCP use during the dying phase seems to moderately contribute to lower levels of bereavement in relatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veerbeek
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Heide
authors.forename: Elsbeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Vogel-Voogt
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Bakker
authors.forename: Carin C D
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: van der Rijt
authors.forename: Siebe J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Swart
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: van der Maas
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Zuylen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006699:Home Care Services; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands; D009735:Nursing Homes; D010166:Palliative Care; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data