Guest commentary : residential aged care : the de facto hospice for New Zealand's older people

Providing palliative care for people living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) has become a key focus for many developing countries including Australia. The paper by Connolly et al. raises the question of whether RACFs are operating as de facto hospices for older people in New Zealand. Their two main messages are that: RACF mortality is high; and training and resources in this sector should reflect this.