Home care clients in the last year of life: is material deprivation associated with service characteristics?

OBJECTIVES To compare demographic, social, medical, and health care characteristics of home care clients in the last year of life by quintile of deprivation and examine associations between material deprivation and service characteristics. METHOD This retrospective study used administrative data for 700 clients who died while receiving home care services. Outcome measures were the receipt of supportive or palliative home care. Associations were assessed using multiple logistic regression. RESULT Material deprivation was not associated with either the hours of home care received or the receipt of supportive home care services. Clients with dementia or stroke, those were older than 80 years and those who were single were less likely to receive palliative care services than other groups. DISCUSSION Inequalities in allocation of home care services based on age, diagnosis, and marital status, but not material deprivation, suggest the need to carefully match service with need at the end of life.