Hospice Care in Malaysia: Knowledge, Attitude and Time of Discussion

<p>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.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Solomon, Shanthi Ellen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pothier, Patricia
• Haviland, Mark
• Winslow, Betty W.

• Critical Care Nursing
• Nursing
• Palliative Care
• Hospice Care - Malaysia; Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing; Health Care Quality; Health Knowledge - Attitudes; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Psychology
• Terminally Ill Patients; Penang (Malaysia); Sabah (Malaysia); End-of-life Care; Hospice Referral

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/270

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1273