title: Home care clients in the last year of life: is material deprivation associated with service characteristics?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare demographic, social, medical, and health care characteristics of home care clients in the last year of life by quintile of deprivation and examine associations between material deprivation and service characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study used administrative data for 700 clients who died while receiving home care services. Outcome measures were the receipt of supportive or palliative home care. Associations were assessed using multiple logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Material deprivation was not associated with either the hours of home care received or the receipt of supportive home care services. Clients with dementia or stroke, those were older than 80 years and those who were single were less likely to receive palliative care services than other groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Inequalities in allocation of home care services based on age, diagnosis, and marital status, but not material deprivation, suggest the need to carefully match service with need at the end of life.
authors.affiliation: University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. donna.goodridge@usask.ca
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goodridge
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.forename: Josh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marko
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steeves
authors.forename: Hollie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitehead
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics*; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011203:Poverty; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy