Attitudes toward death and satisfaction with life among professionals in residential care facilities: A correlational...

Aging brings physical, emotional, and social challenges that require specialized care. Residential Care Facilities (RCFs) play a central role in caring for older adults at the end of life. Death affects not only residents and their families but also professionals, impacting their emotional well-being and performance.

This study aims at analyzing the attitudes toward death and the levels of satisfaction with life in professionals working in Residential Care Facilities (RCFs).

This is a quantitative, exploratory, and correlational study that includes 623 participants. Data was collected using a professional sociodemographic questionnaire, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS).

The study suggests that sociodemographic variables such as marital status, area of studies, and experiencing the death of a close person and religion can significantly impact satisfaction with life. Significant correlations are found between the two scales and in the differences related to sociodemographic factors. In DAP-R, the dimension Escape Acceptance shows a significant and negative correlation with satisfaction with life, while the dimension Neutral Acceptance shows a significant and positive correlation.

The way RCF professionals perceive death, together with sociodemographic factors, may affect their levels of satisfaction with life, so it is important to consider these variables within the professional context.

Training programs to build the capacity of professionals and the creation of guidelines to promote good practices on end of life and death could contribute to increased levels of SWL and the provision of adjusted care.