Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice”
The term “palliative care” has a negative connotation and may act as a barrier to early patient referrals. Rebranding has thus been proposed as a strategy to reduce the negative perceptions associated with palliative care. For example, using the term “supportive care” instead of “palliative care” in...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958016686449 |
| _version_ | 1818160137812049920 |
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| author | Ying-Xiu Dai MD Tzeng-Ji Chen MD Ming-Hwai Lin MD |
| author_facet | Ying-Xiu Dai MD Tzeng-Ji Chen MD Ming-Hwai Lin MD |
| author_sort | Ying-Xiu Dai MD |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The term “palliative care” has a negative connotation and may act as a barrier to early patient referrals. Rebranding has thus been proposed as a strategy to reduce the negative perceptions associated with palliative care. For example, using the term “supportive care” instead of “palliative care” in naming palliative care units has been proposed in several studies. In Taiwan, terms other than “palliative” and “hospice” are already widely used in the names of palliative care units. With this in mind, this study investigated the characteristics of palliative care unit names in order to better understand the role of naming in palliative care. Relevant data were collected from the Taiwan Academy of Hospice Palliative Medicine, the National Health Insurance Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the open database maintained by the government of Taiwan. We found a clear phenomenon of avoiding use of the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in the naming of palliative care units, a phenomenon that reflects the stigma attached to the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in Taiwan. At the time of the study (September, 2016), there were 55 palliative care units in Taiwan. Only 20.0% (n = 11) of the palliative care unit names included the term “palliative,” while 25.2% (n = 14) included the term “hospice.” Religiously affiliated hospitals were less likely to use the terms “palliative” and “hospice” (χ 2 = 11.461, P = .001). There was also a lower prevalence of use of the terms “palliative” and “hospice” for naming palliative care units in private hospitals than in public hospitals (χ 2 = 4.61, P = .032). This finding highlights the strong stigma attached to the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in Taiwan. It is hypothesized that sociocultural and religious factors may partially account for this phenomenon. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:57:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd25ad74ae50423f96e46ab90f281fd1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0046-9580 1945-7243 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:57:06Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd25ad74ae50423f96e46ab90f281fd12022-12-22T00:59:25ZengSAGE PublishingInquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing0046-95801945-72432017-01-015410.1177/0046958016686449Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice”Ying-Xiu Dai MD0Tzeng-Ji Chen MD1Ming-Hwai Lin MD2National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, TaiwanNational Yang-Ming University, Taipei, TaiwanNational Yang-Ming University, Taipei, TaiwanThe term “palliative care” has a negative connotation and may act as a barrier to early patient referrals. Rebranding has thus been proposed as a strategy to reduce the negative perceptions associated with palliative care. For example, using the term “supportive care” instead of “palliative care” in naming palliative care units has been proposed in several studies. In Taiwan, terms other than “palliative” and “hospice” are already widely used in the names of palliative care units. With this in mind, this study investigated the characteristics of palliative care unit names in order to better understand the role of naming in palliative care. Relevant data were collected from the Taiwan Academy of Hospice Palliative Medicine, the National Health Insurance Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the open database maintained by the government of Taiwan. We found a clear phenomenon of avoiding use of the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in the naming of palliative care units, a phenomenon that reflects the stigma attached to the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in Taiwan. At the time of the study (September, 2016), there were 55 palliative care units in Taiwan. Only 20.0% (n = 11) of the palliative care unit names included the term “palliative,” while 25.2% (n = 14) included the term “hospice.” Religiously affiliated hospitals were less likely to use the terms “palliative” and “hospice” (χ 2 = 11.461, P = .001). There was also a lower prevalence of use of the terms “palliative” and “hospice” for naming palliative care units in private hospitals than in public hospitals (χ 2 = 4.61, P = .032). This finding highlights the strong stigma attached to the terms “palliative” and “hospice” in Taiwan. It is hypothesized that sociocultural and religious factors may partially account for this phenomenon.https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958016686449 |
| spellingShingle | Ying-Xiu Dai MD Tzeng-Ji Chen MD Ming-Hwai Lin MD Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing |
| title | Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” |
| title_full | Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” |
| title_fullStr | Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” |
| title_short | Branding Palliative Care Units by Avoiding the Terms “Palliative” and “Hospice” |
| title_sort | branding palliative care units by avoiding the terms palliative and hospice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958016686449 |
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