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Quality of dying and death with cancer in Israel

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Abstract

Background

The quality of dying and death refers to the evaluation of the final days of life and the moment of death with respect to how it is prepared for, faced and experienced by those with a terminal illness. It includes experience in multiple domains: physical, psychological, social, spiritual or existential, the nature of health care, life closure and death preparation, and the circumstances of death.

Aim

To explore the quality of dying and death in cancer patients in Israel and its relationship to place of death and socio-demographic characteristics of the primary caregivers and the deceased.

Design

Retrospective assessment of the quality of dying and death, based on caregiver responses to the Quality of Dying and Death (QODD) questionnaire (overall score ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores reflect better dying and death experiences) 8 to 10 months after the death.

Participants

Ninety-five caregivers of Jewish cancer patients, most of whom were female spouses or children of the deceased.

Results

Mean QODD score was 57.2 (standard deviation [SD] = 15), which is in the low-moderate range. Place of death, gender and age of the caregiver, and age of the deceased, were associated with QODD score.

Conclusions

This retrospective study in Israel demonstrated that the overall quality of dying and death was regarded as poor by almost half of the caregivers. These findings may reflect the relative lack of specialized palliative care and advance care planning in Israel at the time of this study, which took place between 2006 and 2009. Further research and enhancement of palliative care resources may be needed in Israel and several encouraging recent developments (e.g. staff training and legislation) suggest that such changes are now underway.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the study participants who so kindly gave their time and effort to help us with our research. We also thank Omer Wilner and Lior Gilad for assisting with participant recruitment, conducting the interviews and study coordination. This project was supported in part by the Gerald and Paula Kirsh Family Fund in the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Nes Harim 610, Herzlia, 99885, Israel

    Michal Braun

  2. Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

    Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon

  3. Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

    Sarah Hales, Camilla Zimmermann, Anne Rydall & Gary Rodin

  4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Sarah Hales, Camilla Zimmermann & Gary Rodin

  5. Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

    Tamar Peretz

Authors
  1. Michal Braun
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  2. Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon
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  3. Sarah Hales
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  4. Camilla Zimmermann
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  5. Anne Rydall
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  6. Tamar Peretz
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  7. Gary Rodin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michal Braun.

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Braun, M., Hasson-Ohayon, I., Hales, S. et al. Quality of dying and death with cancer in Israel. Support Care Cancer 22, 1973–1980 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2163-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-014-2163-x

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