The Gerontologist
Older Adults’ End-of-Life Care: Are Retrospective Assessments Patterned by Proxy Relationship to Decedent?
Abstract Background and Objectives Understanding the quality of older adults’ end-of-life care is essential for informed decision-making and practitioner accountability. However, retrospective appraisals provided by proxies may be shaped by their relationship to the decedent. Failure to adjust for proxy relationship status may generate misleading characterizations of end-of-life care patterning. We examine how proxy reporters (spouse, daughter, son, other relative, other non-relative, paid caregiver) differ in thei …