Seminar Participants' Expectations of Home Care Services

Purpose: This study describes the expectations of participants in a seminar on home care services, and whether those expectations differed depending on where they would choose to receive end-of-life care.Methods: About 265 individuals participated in a seminar on integrated community care and answered a survey, which included questions on participants’ socio-demographics and expectations for home care services. The participants were divided into those who would choose to spend their end-of-life at home and those who would choose a different place. For comparison, x2and Mann–Whitney U tests were used.Results: Of the home care services with a mean expectation level of 3.4 or above, the most expected services with a level of 3.77 were ‘providing emergency contact information’ and ‘reducing the caregiving burden on the family’. Compared to participants who choose a different place, those who preferred their home had higher expectations for ‘psychological well-being’, ‘avoiding hospitalization’, ‘using desired services’, and ‘using services at desired times and frequencies’.Conclusion: While the participants’ expectations for home care services were high, differences were demonstrated between those who choose to receive end-of-life care at home and those who preferred a different place in 4 items.