Receiving care at home at end of life: characteristics of patients receiving Hospice at Home care

BACKGROUND: Specialist Hospice at Home (HAH) services play an important role in the provision of care for people who choose to die at home. METHODS: A pilot evaluation of a new HAH scheme in East Midlands, UK was carried out between January and December 2003, in which routine data were collected and analysed. RESULTS: In 2003, 155 people received the HAH service. Most patients (83%) were over the age of 60 and had a cancer diagnosis (92%). Almost one-third of patients waited for 2 days or longer to receive care from the HAH scheme. These patients were around three times as likely to be in an inpatient hospice (RR=3.27; 95% CI=1.19-8.95) or an acute hospital (RR=2.85; 95% CI=1.33-6.09) when they were referred. The median length of service use was 4 days. CONCLUSIONS: The HAH service enabled people to die at home in the last days of life. Given the aging population, we would expect the demand for such services to further increase. Shortcomings identified included delay in receiving care for people moving to home from hospices and acute hospitals.     

烧汤有诀窍

汤是我们餐桌上必不可少的。确实，热气腾腾的鲜汤，能使人胃口大开。不会烧汤的人看到别人喝鲜美的汤颇是羡慕，却苦于无从做起，不过一些爱做汤、爱喝汤的人，也存在不少谬误的做法。所以建议各位还是学学烧汤的技巧：三煲四炖五忌。     

Spitting at police

An HIV-positive man who was convicted of felonious assault for spitting at a police officer will appeal his condition to the Ohio Supreme Court. The State Court of Appeals refused to reverse Jimmy Lee Bird's conviction. Defense attorneys argue that the conviction should be overturned because saliva does not constitute a dangerous weapon.