Awareness and Misperceptions of Hospice and Palliative Care: A Population-Based Survey Study.
Ariel Shalev, Veerawat Phongtankuel, Elissa Kozlov and 3 others
PMID 28631493WHAT IT FOUND
Most adults could not define palliative care.
Many hospice answers included misperceptions. After a clear definition, most said they would likely recommend palliative care to a loved one.
Key findings
0173% of the 800 participants said they did not know what palliative care meant, and 17% said they did not know what hospice care meant.
02Among 664 participants who answered the hospice question, 248 (37%) gave responses containing at least one misperception; among 216 participants who answered the palliative care question, 115 (53.2%) gave responses containing at least one misperception.
03After hearing a definition of palliative care, 503 (62.9%) said they would very likely recommend it to a loved one and 224 (28%) said somewhat likely.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 800 of 2875 calls were successful, and 1185 numbers were inactive, 506 people were ineligible, and 384 refused, so the sample may not represent all adults. The survey did not ask follow-up questions, so short answers may not show what participants truly understood. Open-ended phone questions may understate knowledge; the authors note another study using true/false questions found much higher hospice knowledge. Participants were New York State adults, so their awareness and opinions may not apply to people in other regions. Very few participants said they were not likely to consider palliative care, so the analysis of characteristics linked to lower receptivity may have missed real associations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of the article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that hearing a definition will increase hospice or palliative care use. This survey measured awareness and stated likelihood after a definition, not an educational intervention or actual patient decisions.