Palliative care in lebanon: knowledge, attitudes and practices of physicians and nurses

ABSTRACT

Palliative care [PC] is defined by the World Health Organization as [an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness...] In Lebanon, PC is new to the health care field and as such very little is known about type of services offered and the preparedness of health care professionals to provide PC. The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians and nurses towards PC in Lebanon, and to assess the need and model for service delivery. A cross-sectional descriptive survey using self-administered questionnaire sent to 15 hospitals in Lebanon was used ; 1873 nurses and 1884 physicians participated in the study. The response rate was 32% ; 51% for nurses and 13% for physicians. Around 93% of nurses and 96% of physicians were able to identify the goals of PC. The majority [94% to 99%] believes terminally ill patients and their families should be informed of the diagnosis and prognosis. Only 19% percent of physicians routinely inform terminally ill patients about their diagnosis. Around 100% of the respondents believe that PC services need to be developed in Lebanon warranting the need for continuing education in this field