Year: 2015
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Despite available and adequate hospice care resources, fewer terminally ill patients in Malaysia use hospice care services than one might reasonably expect. It is reported that only around 10% of patients who die of terminal illness in Malaysia, die in hospice care (Devaraj, 2003). The projected number of individuals that should receive palliative care in Malaysia is 17 to 27% (Connor & Sepulveda Bermedo, 2014). In order to study why hospice care is not accessed as expected, nurses and doctors in Penang and Sabah completed a survey measuring knowledge of current hospice practices, attitude toward caring for the dying, personal death anxiety and when they believe is the right time to discuss hospice care. No significant relationships were found between knowledge of hospice care, attitude towards caring for the dying and personal death anxiety and the decision of nurses and doctors to introduce the topic of hospice care with terminally ill or dying patients. There being a lack of consensus on the interpretation of “terminal illness” and “dying patient”, the right time to discuss hospice could not be determined. Along with the identification of the gap in the process of terminally ill patients receiving end-of-life- care, this study has identified how a more relevant method of research for the Malaysian setting may improve the time and quantity of hospice referral.
Author: Shanthi Ellen Solomon
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2344775424