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The last year of life in Europe: regional variations in functional status and sources of support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2010

KARSTEN HANK  and
HENDRIK JÜRGES
KARSTEN HANK*
Affiliation:
Institute of Sociology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
HENDRIK JÜRGES
Affiliation:
Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
*
Address for correspondence: Karsten Hank, University of Cologne, Institute of Sociology, Greinstr. 2, 50939Cologne, Germany E-mail: hank@wiso.uni-koeln.de
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Abstract

This article aims to provide an initial account of the life circumstances of older people in 11 continental European countries during the year prior to their deaths. It focuses on regional variations in functional limitations and sources of support. Using logistic regression we analyse data from 523 end-of-life interviews in 2006–07, collected for the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (Wave 2) about the respondents who had died since the baseline data collection in 2004–05. The prevalence of functional limitations was found to be fairly consistent across Northern, Central and Southern Europe. Significant regional differences existed, however, with regard to the deceased respondents' main sources of support and the locations of their deaths. Northern Europeans were the least likely to receive help from their family only and the most likely to be supported by non-kin. They also exhibited the highest risk of dying in a nursing home. In Mediterranean countries, a pattern of exclusive family support and dying at home prevailed. The findings support the notion of a ‘mixed responsibility’ of families and welfare states as providers of support for older people in the last year of life.

Keywords

end-of-life researchADL limitationssocial supportSHARE survey
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 30 , Issue 6 , August 2010 , pp. 1041 - 1054
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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