Perspectives regarding what constitutes a "good death" among Thai nurses: A cross-sectional study.

Palliative care is a crucial component in improving peoples' end-of-life period. It is important to understand the wishes of people at the end of life and the perceptions of their healthcare providers regarding these wishes. As nurses play a key role in patient care, in this study we set out to determine nurses' perceptions regarding what constitutes a "good death", comparing what they thought their older patients would prefer to their own preferences for their own end-of-life care. Questionnaires asking about various options of end-of-life care were distributed to nurses, and they were asked how they thought older people would respond to each of the questions and what their own preferences would be if they were terminally ill. In total, 656 participants were enrolled and they rated relief from suffering as the most important component, both for themselves and for those in their care. More than 80% of nurses agreed with all of the statements on the questionnaire. However, some of the nurses' preferences for their own end of life differed from those they expected their patients to value.

A comparison of preferences of elderly patients for end-of-life period and their relatives' perceptions in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Goal of palliative care is to experience a good death. Understanding the perceptions of elderly patients and their relatives about this issue should provide healthcare professionals with practical guidance in order to achieve this goal. OBJECTIVES: To determine and compare the perceptions of elderly patients and relatives regarding wishes during their end-of-life(EOL) period. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Siriraj and Srinagarind Hospital in Thailand from September 2017 to February 2018. A questionnaire was given to elderly patients and the relatives of them. The patients were asked to respond to the questions as though they were terminally-ill patients, and relatives were asked to imagine how elderly people would respond to the questions. RESULTS: We recruited 608 elderly patients and 607 relatives. The most important issue in both groups was"receiving the full truth about their illnesses". The perceptions of the patients and relatives differed significantly in 8/13 areas covered in the questionnaire. Independent factors associated with preference for home death were elderly from Khon Kaen (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.6;95%CI 1.7,4.1), previous self-employed/general work compared to individuals who did not work (AOR 0.5;95%CI 0.3,0.9), low educational level (AOR 2.3;95%CI 1.3,4.0), low income (AOR 1.7;95%CI 1.1,2.5), greater family size (AOR 1.7;95%CI 1.1,2.6) and dissatisfaction in life (AOR 2.5;95%CI 1.1,5.4). CONCLUSION: Receiving the full truth about their illnesses was the most important issue for participants in both groups. The major differences between the two groups had to do with autonomy. Factors influencing place of death were location of patients, previous occupation, educational level, family income, family size and dissatisfaction in life.

Comparison of Thai older patients' wishes and nurses' perceptions regarding end-of-life care.

BACKGROUND: Achieving a "good death" is a major goal of palliative care. Nurses play a key role in the end-of-life care of older patients. Understanding the perceptions of both older patients and nurses in this area could help improve care during this period. OBJECTIVES: To examine and compare the preferences and perceptions of older patients and nurses with regard to what they feel constitutes a "good death." RESEARCH DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: This study employed a self-report questionnaire that asked about various options for end-of-life care. It was distributed to older patients who attended the outpatient clinic of internal medicine and nurses who worked at two medical schools in Thailand from September 2017 to February 2018. Patients were asked to respond to the questions as if they were terminally ill, and nurses were asked to imagine how older patients would answer the questions. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION: Approval from Institutional Review Board was obtained. FINDINGS: A total of 608 patients and 665 nurses responded to the survey. Nurses agreed with concepts of palliative care, but they rated themselves as having poor knowledge. The patient respondents felt that it was most important that they receive the full truth about their illnesses (29.2%). The nurses thought the most important issue was relief of uncomfortable symptoms (25.2%). On seven out of the 13 questions, nurses overestimated the importance of the relevant issue to patients and underestimated the importance on one question (p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Both nurses and older patients signified concepts of palliative care, but nurses felt that they lacked adequate knowledge. Nurses estimated that patients would have positive attitudes toward autonomy and the closure of life affairs to a significantly greater degree than the patient respondents. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that palliative care education be improved and that steps be taken to allow for more effective nurse-patient communication with regard to the patients' end-of-life wishes.

Thai medical students' attitudes regarding what constitutes a "good death": a multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: Few studies exist regarding the perception of medical students toward older adults' wishes during their end-of-life period. Better understanding of students' perceptions regarding this topic could help improve palliative education. The purposes of this study were to examine the perceptions of medical students regarding what constitutes a "good death" and to demonstrate the factors associated with the necessary care decisions in older patients. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was developed and given to all of the medical students at two medical schools in Thailand (Siriraj and Srinagarind Hospital) from September 2017 to February 2018. They were asked to response to the questions by imagining how older people would think, and their preferences regarding care at the end-of-life period. The anonymous questionnaires were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 1029 out of 2990 surveys were returned (34.4%). A minority of the sixth-year medical students rated themselves as being knowledgeable about palliative care (11.3%). According to the survey, desire to have spiritual needs met and have their loved ones present were the most important conditions that contributed to a "good death". Factors associated with reluctance to receive prolonged treatment were female sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR 1.39), being in the clinical years of training (AOR 1.92), self-rated good health (AOR 1.45), and prior experience of watching someone dying (AOR 1.61). Enrollment in Srinagarind medical school (AOR 2.05), being a clinical student (AOR1.91), and being dissatisfied with life (AOR 1.78) were independent factors related to preference for home death. CONCLUSIONS: Most medical students signified understanding of concepts of geriatric palliative care but felt that they had insufficient knowledge in this area. Multiple factors related to decision regarding the care that was required were identified. Medical schools should consider this information to improve geriatric palliative medical education in undergraduate training.