Physician acceptance of home care for terminally ill children

The study reported here explored the factors associated with the implementation of Martinson's model of home care and treatment for children in the terminal stages of illness with cancer. The model is described as an example of a health care strategy that was dramatically different from the prevalent model of care and may have conflicted with existing values. Data for the study were gathered from the hospital records of the children and from a survey of their oncologists. The findings suggest that physicians viewed the model of care as desirable and made their referral decisions on the basis of their judgment about whether the family in question was technically and emotionally capable of providing the care.