Preferred and actual place of death: what we know and what we need

Speaker

Dr Barbara Gomes is a palliative care researcher and the Floriani Chair in Palliative Care at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, in Portugal. She is also visiting senior research fellow at the Cicely Saunders Institute and our PhD and MSc alumna. She is specialist in proofing end of life care, to ensure it matches people’s preferences and priorities. She leads a European Research Council (ERC) grant to better understand choice and dying places.

Abstract

Respecting preferences for place of death is important. A first step is to know where people would prefer to die and where they actually die. This seminar will present findings published this year from the international project EOLinPLACE. The team conducted an umbrella review including 15 systematic reviews on patient and family preferences. They also conducted the largest study to date of international trends in place of death, showing a rise of home death across 23 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Gomes will highlight the implications for palliative care and the need to improve the way place of death is classified and understood.

About the seminar series 

The Cicely Saunders Institute Open Seminar Series events are free to attend.

This seminar is worth CPD (1 credit) pending from the Royal College of Physicians.

The series aim is to optimise opportunities for local, national and international networking within palliative care and rehabilitation. We facilitate seminars to assist in improving practice, education and policy, and the integration of research and clinical endeavours.