Community knowledge of and attitudes to palliative care: A descriptive study

Palliative care is predominantly accessed late in the course of an illness, despite evidence to suggest the benefits of early engagement. Strategies are required to reduce the barriers to the delivery of palliative care.

To describe community understandings of and attitudes to palliative care and explore characteristics significantly associated with favourable attitudes towards palliative care.

Cross-sectional survey data were collected including several sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge of palliative care and attitudes to palliative care. Correlational analyses identified factors related to positive attitudes to palliative care. Those of significance (p ⩽ 0.01) were examined using a multiple regression model to determine their predictive value.

A community-based sample of consecutive English-speaking adults who volunteered their participation in response to a study advertisement distributed online through established community groups.

A total of 421 participants (75% female, mean age: 51 ± 15.1) reported a median of at least three misperceptions of palliative care. Older age, previously undertaking a caregiving role, knowing someone who had received palliative care and reporting more accurate knowledge of palliative care significantly predicted favourable attitudes to palliative care (adjusted R² = 0.24, F(8, 333) = 13.2, p < 0.001). Other factors typically associated with health literacy such as tertiary education, working at a medical facility and speaking a language other than English at home were not predictive.

Gaps in knowledge about palliative care exist in community, which may limit citizen's potential access to quality care in the event of serious illness. These results point to a role for public education programmes, which may, in turn, also shift attitudes to palliative care.