Quintiens, Bert;
Smets, Tinne;
Chambaere, Kenneth;
Van den Block, Lieve;
Deliens, Luc;
Sallnow, Libby;
Cohen, Joachim;
(2023)
Discomfort With Suffering and Dying, a Cross-Sectional Survey of the General Public.
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
, 66
(5)
529-540.e6.
10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.07.003.
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Abstract
Context: Death and the process of dying have become increasingly medicalized and professionalized. The associated cultural estrangement from death may affect how comfortable we feel about death and dying. This study examines the general public's discomfort with another person's suffering and dying, and whether these feelings are associated with specific personal characteristics or experiences. Objectives: Cross-sectional survey in a random sample of people aged 16 or older in four municipalities in Flanders, Belgium (N=4400). We used the self-developed construct Discomfort with someone's suffering and dying. A directed acyclic graph guided the development of a multivariable regression model which explored the effect of different variables on the main outcome measure. Results: A total of 2008 completed questionnaires were returned (response rate: 45.6%). Average discomfort with someone's suffering and dying was 3.74 (SD = 0.89). Being female or currently mourning a loss were associated with more discomfort. Not being religious, having better knowledge about palliative care, having worked in healthcare, having been with someone else at the time of their death and having been culturally exposed to death and dying were associated with less discomfort. Conclusion: A considerable level of discomfort is present within the general public about the suffering and dying of others and this may increase social stigma and a tendency to avoid seriously ill people and their social surroundings. Our findings suggest that interventions may help shift this societal discomfort if they incorporate a focus on cultural and experiential exposure and increasing knowledge about palliative care.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Discomfort With Suffering and Dying, a Cross-Sectional Survey of the General Public |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.07.003 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.07.00... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Health Care Sciences & Services, Medicine, General & Internal, Clinical Neurology, General & Internal Medicine, Neurosciences & Neurology, Palliative care, end -of -life, death discomfort, public health, COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES, PALLIATIVE CARE, DEATH ANXIETY, ATTITUDES, HEALTH, STIGMA, END, EXPERIENCES, KNOWLEDGE, GENDER |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry > Marie Curie Palliative Care |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10190108 |
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