[marachne]

Hi all, I've got some questions for you related to your patients in Assisted Living.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm getting pretty close to starting recruiting for my dissertation study, and I'm concerned how challenging it's going to be. My dissertation is going to be regarding the experiences of family members of AL residents enrolled in hospice.

I'm going to be doing a combination of interviews and participant observation for data collection -- my plan is to spend time with family members of AL residents with their loved one on hospice at the AL facility. My concern is finding people who are on hospice long enough that I can do the participant observation portion.

First off, I'm wondering in general about the length of stay for your patients, especially those living in assisted living.

Secondly, how much involvement do you see by families? If they are involved, do they tend to be there when you come to see you patients?

Thirdly, do you have any suggestions for how to keep my study on hospice RN's radar? My plan is to go to a staff meeting (probably IDG meetings) to introduce myself and my study and hand out information to be shared with potential participants. Having been told that on-going personal contact is important, I'm planning on showing up (at the 4 large hospices I'm planning to mostly recruit through) weekly for things like IDG meetings to help them keep me and my study in mind.

If you feel like sharing any general information about working with families and providing hospice care in AL would be appreciated (although I recognize that AL differs widely from state-to-state and that Oregon is particularly supporting of aging in place, which is not the case in all states). Also, if you have any suggestions for me about how to work with the hospices for recruiting, I'd appreciate it! (I'm will be recruiting family members through hospices, not hospice personnel themselves).

Thanks so much!

Miriam