Author: Sander Borgsteede
Date: 22-12-2006
Promoters: Prof. dr. Gerrit van der Wal, Prof. dr. Jacques van Eijk and Prof. dr. Luc Deliens
SUMMARY OF THE DISSERTATION
In the Netherlands, the general practitioner (GP) is the central professional in the management and coordination of the patient’s treatment. Almost 60% of the patients with non-acute illnesses die at home, and there is a general consensus that end-of-life care, if possible, preferably should be provided in the patient’s home. The actual and formal approach of the Dutch government is that end-of-life care should be provided as much as possible by generalists, and in this context initiatives to make possible the responsible, complex and demanding tasks of providing end-of-life care were stimulated. Because few studies have been performed in order to describe and understand the role of the GP, end-of-life care research activities concerning general practice were initiated. This thesis aims to investigate issues of current practice in end-of-life care in general practice in the Netherlands.
