End-of-life Communication From a Chinese Perspective

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Status

Completed

Conditions

Terminally Ill

Treatments

Other: Not Application as this is a qualitative study

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05734781

HSEARS20221217002

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this observational study is to explore experiences and perceptions of end-of-life communication in Chinese terminally ill patients, families and healthcare providers. The main question it aims to answer is:

• What are the experiences and perceptions of end-of-life communication in Chinese terminally ill patients, families and healthcare providers? Participants will be invited to either semi-structured in-depth interviews or focus group discussions to share their thoughts.

Full description

Objectives: To explore stakeholders' (patients, families and healthcare providers) experiences and perceptions of end-of-life communication in China; and understand culturally appropriate communication strategies.

Design and subjects: This study is a qualitative study. Eligible patients, family caregivers and healthcare providers will be recruited in two hospitals. Purposive sampling methods will be adopted. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with patients and family caregivers will be conducted respectively. Focus group discussions will be arranged with healthcare providers, allowing them to discuss end-of-life communication and generate group interactions and creative thinking.

Data analysis: The data analysis will be an iterative, cyclic and self-reflective process. Using inductive thematic analysis, common themes and categories will be determined through inductive reasoning and constant comparison.

Expected results: The study will fill the gap of no empirical evidence on end-of-life communication strategies from a Chinese perspective and enrich the knowledge about end-of-life communication.

Enrollment

66 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Patients:

Be aged older than 18 years
Have a defined incurable life-limiting illness with a likely life expectancy of fewer than 12 months (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2021), according to the consultation with the patient's physician
Have been informed of disease diagnosis and treatment
Be able to speak Mandarin and express clearly
Be able to provide informed consent

Family caregivers:

Be aged older than 18 years
One of the terminally ill patient's primary family caregivers who are familiar with patient's situation, which is defined as lived with or visited patients at least twice a week in the past month
Have been informed of patient's disease diagnosis and treatment
Be able to speak Mandarin
Be able to provide informed consent

Healthcare providers:

Be nurses, physicians or other healthcare professionals
Be experienced in providing treatment or care to patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses (whose likely life expectancies of fewer than 12 months) and family caregivers of such patients for at least five years (Koh et al., 2016)
Consent to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

Patients and family caregivers: