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The hidden issues of anticipatory medications in community palliative care

Margaret O’Connor, Susan Gatens and Brian H Le
Med J Aust 2014; 200 (10): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.00030
Published online: 2 June 2014

To the Editor: Most people, because of the “normality” it offers, wish to die at home.1 Additional interconnected factors, including preferences, functional status and caregiving responsibilities, contribute to achieving this desire.2 Key to the inability to stay at home is lack of symptom control, frequently resulting in hospital admission.3


  • 1 School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Palliative Care, Melbourne City Mission, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 3 Department of Palliative Care, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: margaret.oconnor@monash.edu

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Gott M, Seymour J, Bellamy G, et al. Older people's views about home as a place of care at the end of life. Palliat Med 2004; 18: 460-467.
  • 2. Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Factors influencing death at home in terminally ill patients with cancer: systematic review. BMJ 2006; 332: 515-521.
  • 3. McWhinney IR, Bass MJ, Orr V. Factors associated with locations of death (home or hospital) of patients referred to a palliative care team. CMAJ 1995; 152: 361-367.
  • 4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Palliative care services in Australia 2013. Canberra: AIHW, 2013. (AIHW Cat. No. HWI 123.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129545247 (accessed Apr 2014).
  • 5. Wowchuk SM, Wilson EA, Embleton L, et al. The palliative medication kit: an effective way of extending care in the home for patients nearing death. J Palliat Med 2009; 12: 797-803.
  • 6. The Gold Standards Framework. http:www.goldstandardsframework.org.uk (accessed Mar 2014).

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