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Cancer patients’ perceptions of palliative care

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite clear benefits of early integration of palliative care (PC) and oncology, concerns remain about negative perceptions of PC. Our aim was to explore current knowledge and perceptions of PC in cancer patients.

Methods

We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional survey. A 16-item questionnaire was distributed to all cancer patients (N = 103) upon admission to the oncology ward of an Australian tertiary academic hospital. Chi-squared test was used to examine for significant factors related to patients’ perceptions.

Results

Ninety-six patients (93%) completed the questionnaire; 76% had metastatic cancer. We explored the following domains:

  • Experience and knowledge: 76% had heard of PC; 21% had received PC. Self-rated PC knowledge was varied. Forty-five percent believed that PC was only associated with EOLC; those more likely to disagree had received PC services (p = 0.039).

  • Integration of PC and oncology: Majority believed that they could receive oncology care (86%) and anti-cancer treatment (81%) whilst receiving PC. Those who had heard of PC and with better self-rated knowledge were more likely to believe that they could receive concurrent anti-cancer treatment (p = 0.005, p = 0.045, respectively).

  • Feelings: 77% felt comforted with PC involvement; this was significantly associated with older age (p = 0.047) and understanding that oncology (p < 0.005) and anti-cancer treatment (p = 0.013) could continue. However, some felt frightened (40%) and hopeless (29%) about referral to PC. Fifty percent felt more comfortable with referral to ‘supportive care’ services (versus PC).

Conclusions

Our survey demonstrates reasonable understanding and relatively positive feelings about PC, associated with experience and knowledge. Nonetheless, there is ongoing need for better patient and public education about PC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mr. M Gotch and Ms. A Bounds (palliative care nurse consultants) for assistance with survey administration.

Funding

No financial support was received for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McCulloch House Supportive and Palliative Care Unit, Monash Health, Monash University, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia

    Benjamin Chosich, Marjorie Burgess, Michael Franco, Fiona Runacres, Leeroy William, Peter Poon & Jaclyn Yoong

  2. Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Benjamin Chosich, Marjorie Burgess, Arul Earnest, Michael Franco, Fiona Runacres, Leeroy William, Peter Poon & Jaclyn Yoong

  3. Calvary Health Care Bethlehem, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Fiona Runacres

  4. The University of Notre Dame, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia

    Fiona Runacres

  5. Eastern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Leeroy William

  6. Northern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Jaclyn Yoong

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  1. Benjamin Chosich
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Contributions

• BC: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing

• MB: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing

• AE: Formal analysis, methodology

• MF: Writing – review and editing

• FR: Writing – review and editing

• LW: Writing – review and editing

• PP: Writing – review and editing

• JY: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaclyn Yoong.

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Chosich, B., Burgess, M., Earnest, A. et al. Cancer patients’ perceptions of palliative care. Support Care Cancer 28, 1207–1214 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04917-8

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