Perspectives on death among rural older adults in mainland China: A qualitative study

The study aimed to explore perspectives on death among rural older adults in mainland China. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 18 rural older adults from Guangzhou, China. Data were sorted and coded using NVivo 12.0 software, and analyzed through thematic analysis. Three themes were extracted, including attitudes toward death (lack of contemplating death, coexistence of death acceptance and death anxiety, avoidance of discussing death), end-of-life preferences (defining a good death, preference of place of death, not desiring to be over-rescued) and needs of death education (participation attitudes, content and form). Results suggested that rural older adults in mainland China lacked contemplating death, avoided discussing death, and experienced a certain degree of death anxiety. In the future, it's important to provide appropriate death-related interventions for them, guide them in actively contemplating death and expressing their perceptions and preferences, and ultimately improve their death competence and enhance quality of death.