LECTURE SERIES: Older Adults’ Complex Family Lives in the 21st Century: Implications for End-of-Life Preparations and Well-Being
Advances in medical technologies mean that older adults are living longer than ever before, with most dying of chronic diseases that have protracted symptoms and require difficult decisions about end-of-life care. Most older adults rely on their families for advance care planning, advocacy, and decision-making – raising concerns about the rising numbers of adults growing old without a spouse or children. This presentation examines how: (1) marital trajectories and parental statuses affect advance care planning, a critical step for attaining a ‘good death,” and (2) marital and parental statuses affect quality of death outcomes (e.g., palliation, respectful care) as assessed by the decedent’s proxy. Analyses are based on the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), National Health and Aging Trends (NHATS), and Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) surveys. Implications for policy, practice, and future research will be discussed.
