Care Giver Perceptions of End of Life Care for COPD Patient

Care Giver Perceptions of End of Life Care for COPD Patient RESEARCH PROPOSAL Title: Exploring the primary family care givers perceptions of care giving for end of life care of COPD ICU patient. Introduction: The world perspective is shifting towards non-communicable diseases, with chronic conditions such as heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as chief causes of death globally. COPD is a chronic progressive disease of air flow obstruction which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD is predicted as 3 rd leading cause of death in 2030 according to 2008 WHO statistics. In terms of social burden of disease quantified by disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost, COPD ranked as the 12th leading cause of DALYs lost worldwide in 1990, but will be the 7th leading cause of DALY lost worldwide in 2030.COPD is more common among world age people due to decreased lung function capacity. The world population above 60 years was1.7% in 2013 and will continue to grow as a reaching 21.1 per cent by 2050 (world a geing population 2013). COPD is one of the major 8th leading causes of death in Singapore. According to MOH 2013 census COPD causes 1.6% of deaths per 18938 populations.COPD is a treatable disease but not a curable one. So ultimately it increases the economic burden of the country by its chronicity, rate of hospital readmission and affects the quality of life Lynn, 2000; Simonds, 2004).The palliative care needs of patients with end-stage respiratory diseases are increasingly being recognized (Curtis, 2008; Lanken et al., 2008) . The COPD patient experience significant impairment of quality of life and physical and psychological needs when compare to individual with lung cancer (Core et al., 2000; Edmonds et al., 2001; Skilbeck et al., 1998; Tranmer et al, 2003). Why family members? When there is progression of diseases it imposes negative impacts on psychological health of Care givers (Daniela Figueiredo, 2014). Careers are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depressive symptoms providing continuous care during the advance stage of the disease and end of life care (Abebaw Mengistus Yohannes 2007). Preparation for death should include a realistic appraisal of the prospects for dying peacefully at home. (Hansen –Flaschen J .2004) Most of the patients are willing to be housebound at the end stage of life so its responsibility of family cares to provide continuous care and support them White P (2011) stated 45% were housebound, 75% had a career in end stage of COPD . despite no studies have been conducted qualitatively on family care givers perception on End of life care on COPD in Asian countries .