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Where do we most want to die and where do most people really die?
Most people have clear ideas of where they want to spend their last weeks, days and hours when the end of life approaches. Many have the wish to say goodbye at home in a familiar environment. But the reality is usually different. "Two out of three Germans do not spend the last hours of their lives in the place they want"; so one of the results of the current DAK care report.
Dying is often avoided in our society. People are reluctant to deal with their own death as long as it still seems far away. Nevertheless, most Germans have a clear idea of how they want to say goodbye. In the DAK health care report, 60 percent of respondents expressed a desire to die at home. However, this rarely happens.
Most people want to die at home in the circle of their loved ones. But three-quarters of Germans die in clinics or nursing homes, many of them alone. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com) Preventable hospital deliveries just before death
Although most would like to say goodbye in their own homes, but die three quarters of Germans in the hospital or nursing home, according to the DAK. Often, shortly before death, hospitalization takes place, which, according to the health insurance company, would be avoidable if the dying wish for home-based care as an alternative.
Skepticism about the care in clinics and homes
As a reason for the desire for a death at home seven out of ten respondents in the DAK report said that the familiar environment makes dying more bearable and also brings more dignity. Indirectly, these results indicate "a pronounced skepticism towards palliative care in clinics and homes," emphasizes DAK-Gesundheit's CEO, Professor Herbert Rebscher.
Hardly anyone wants to die in a hospital or nursing home
In the DAK care report, only four percent of respondents said they envision a hospital death, and only two percent cited nursing homes as a place of departure. According to the results of the report, about 16 percent are undecided. For respondents who have family members themselves and therefore have nursing experience, 76 percent wanted a death at home. In fact, more than 75 percent of all people in Germany die in the hospital or nursing home, reports the DAK. That would kill 69 percent of people, not where they want.
In the past, death was more common at home
In previous generations the care of dying relatives was quite common and more people were able to spend their last hours in familiar surroundings. Just over two decades ago, 55 percent died at home and only six percent in nursing homes, reports the DAK. In the last five years, however, only 32 percent of Germans are at home and 22 percent have died in nursing homes. The proportion of those who died in the hospital had remained about the same in recent decades, at just over 40 percent.
In the nursing home and hospital, most die alone
The DAK care report also concludes that just over every fifth respondent had relatives or friends whom he would have wanted a different place to die for. "Many gave the home as a desired location," says the DAK. This was based on personal experience, according to which dying in the hospital often connected to machines and at the time of death were alone. A statement that confirms itself according to DAK in the actual numbers. In the hospital, one fifth of the people died alone and in the nursing homes even one third. At home just under 14 died alone.
Who dares to care for death?
Death in a familiar environment often requires relatives and / or friends to provide supportive care. However, not all people dare to do so. Thus, among the respondents of the DAK-.Pflegereports could imagine just about every third person to care for someone until his death. At 41 percent, women were much more likely to do so than men. However, the answer was basically dependent on the occupation, reports the DAK. For example, every second woman working part-time has given a positive answer here, but only one in three full-time women. The interviewees also see further support from relatives, volunteers and professional helpers as an important prerequisite for mastering such a task themselves. (Fp)