Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42108877›Full record

ArticlePalliative & supportive care2026

Impact of home healthcare reform on place of death for people with dementia: A nationwide cohort study accounting for cultural factors of impending death discharge.

Chia-Hung Chen, Elizabeth L Sampson, Jung-Yu Liao, Chung-Han Ho, Wei-Zhe Tseng, Irene Petersen, Yi-Chi Wang, Yi-Chen Lai, Yu-Han Chen, Hung-Yi Chiou and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative & supportive care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Chia-Hung ChenDepartment of Family Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7157-2137
Elizabeth L SampsonAcademic Centre for Healthy Ageing, Whipps Cross Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK.
Jung-Yu LiaoDepartment of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chung-Han HoDepartment of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Wei-Zhe TsengDepartment of Family Medicine and Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Irene PetersenUCL Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
Yi-Chi WangDepartment of Family Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Yi-Chen LaiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, An Nan Hospital, China Medical University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Yu-Han ChenDepartment of Family Medicine, An Nan Hospital, China Medical University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Hung-Yi ChiouInstitute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
Chao A HsiungInstitute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
Sang-Ju YuTaiwan Society of Home Health Care, Taipei, Taiwan.
Christine RitchieMongan Institute Center for Aging and Serious Illness and the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ping-Jen ChenDepartment of Family Medicine and Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough home is frequently the preferred place of death, little is known regarding how home healthcare (HHC) influences this outcome for people with dementia (PWD), particularly within Asian contexts. This study investigates the impact of HHC and its 2016 "Integrated Home-Based Medical Care" reform on home death in Taiwan, explicitly accounting for the cultural phenomenon of "impending death discharge."

methodsThis nationwide retrospective cohort study utilized Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified PWD decedents from 2011 to 2022 and conducted a nested case-control analysis. Cases (home deaths) and controls (hospital deaths) were matched 1:1 using propensity scores to balance demographics and health status. HHC models included pre-2016 primary HHC, post-2016 primary HHC, and the reformed "HBPC Plus" (Home-Based Primary Care Plus). The outcome was adjusted to include patients discharged terminally to die at home, reflecting distinctive cultural practices.

resultsAmong 209,468 decedents, 95,594 were selected after matching. Overall, HHC use was associated with higher odds of home death (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.13-1.21). The reformed HBPC Plus program showed the strongest association compared to pre-2016 primary HHC (aOR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.34-1.98). Crucially, this association strengthened further when accounting for impending death discharge (aOR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.40-2.35). Higher visit frequency and services from hospital-based teams were also significantly linked to home death.

conclusionsHHC significantly increases the likelihood of home death among PWD in culturally influenced contexts. The 2016 reform, particularly the HBPC Plus program, proved highly effective. Policy components like flexible visit frequencies and enhanced hospital-physician coordination appear vital for supporting end-of-life care at home, offering key insights for policy planning in aging societies.

Indexed as

DementiaHealth Care ReformHome Care ServicesAgedAged, 80 and overCase-Control StudiesCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMalePatient DischargeRetrospective StudiesTaiwanhome healthcareimpending death dischargeIntegrated Home-Based Medical CarePeople with dementiaplace of death

Identifiers

PMID42108877
PMCPMC13202396

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.