 Older Adults' Attitudes to Death, Palliative Treatment and Hospice Care The researchers note that cancer patients who receive care from specialist
palliative care services in the UK are younger than those who do not receive
this care. This may be explained by age-related differences in attitudes toward
end-of-life care. The study's objective was to determine the relationship between
age and 1) attitudes toward death and preparation for death; and 2) knowledge
about, and attitudes toward, cancer and palliative care. They used a questionnaire
to interview older patients and compared people 55-74 years old with those aged
75 years and older in general practices in London. There were 129 participants
aged 55-74 and 127 aged 75 years or older. The survey determined knowledge and
experience of hospice care; preparation for end-of-life; and attitudes toward
end-of-life issues. The researchers report that participants were knowledgeable
about specialist palliative care and almost half of them had some indirect contact
with a hospice. People over 74 years old were less likely than younger participants
to want their doctors to end their lives in a terminal illness. Although they
believed death was easier to face for the elderly, they did not believe that
younger people deserved more consideration than older people when dying, or
that they should have priority for hospice care. Education, social class, hospice
knowledge and anxiety about death had little influence on their attitudes. The
investigators conclude that the relative under-utilization of hospice and specialist
palliative care services by the elderly with cancer in the UK cannot be explained
by their attitudes toward end-of-life issues and palliative care. Catt S, Blanchard
M, Addington-Hall J, Zis M, Blizard R, King M. Adapted from Palliative Medicine.
2005 Jul;19(5):402-10. |
| Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City ©2005 Continuum Health Partners, Inc. www.stoppain.org/palliative_care |
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