Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore
Background: Low awareness about palliative care among the global public and healthcare communities has been frequently cited as a persistent barrier to palliative care acceptance. Given that knowledge shapes attitudes and encourages receptiveness, it is critical to examine factors that influence the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173560 |
| _version_ | 1811682605243826176 |
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| author | Yeo, Su Lin Ng, Raymond Han Lip Peh, Tan-Ying Lwin, May Oo Chong, Poh-Heng Neo, Patricia Soek Hui Zhou, Jamie Xuelian Lee, Angel |
| author2 | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
| author_facet | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Yeo, Su Lin Ng, Raymond Han Lip Peh, Tan-Ying Lwin, May Oo Chong, Poh-Heng Neo, Patricia Soek Hui Zhou, Jamie Xuelian Lee, Angel |
| author_sort | Yeo, Su Lin |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Background: Low awareness about palliative care among the global public and healthcare communities has been frequently cited as a persistent barrier to palliative care acceptance. Given that knowledge shapes attitudes and encourages receptiveness, it is critical to examine factors that influence the motivation to increase knowledge. Health information-seeking from individuals and media has been identified as a key factor, as the process of accessing and interpreting information to enhance knowledge has been shown to positively impact health behaviours. Objective: Our study aimed to uncover public sentiments toward palliative care in Singapore. A conceptual framework was additionally developed to investigate the relationship between information-seeking preferences and knowledge, attitudes, receptiveness of palliative care, and comfort in death discussion. Design and Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted in Singapore with 1226 respondents aged 21 years and above. The data were analysed through a series of hierarchical multiple regression to examine the hypothesised role of information-seeking sources as predictors. Results: Our findings revealed that 53% of our participants were aware of palliative care and about 48% were receptive to receiving the care for themselves. It further showed that while information-seeking from individuals and media increases knowledge, attitudes and receptiveness to palliative care, the comfort level in death conversations was found to be positively associated only with individuals, especially healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the need for public health authorities to recognize people’s deep-seated beliefs and superstitions surrounding the concept of mortality. As Asians view death as a taboo topic that is to be avoided at all costs, it is necessary to adopt multipronged communication programs to address those fears. It is only when the larger communicative environment is driven by the media to encourage public discourse, and concurrently supported by timely interventions to trigger crucial conversations on end-of-life issues between individuals, their loved ones, and the healthcare team, can we advance awareness and benefits of palliative care among the public in Singapore. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:59:30Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/173560 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:59:30Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1735602024-02-18T15:33:04Z Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore Yeo, Su Lin Ng, Raymond Han Lip Peh, Tan-Ying Lwin, May Oo Chong, Poh-Heng Neo, Patricia Soek Hui Zhou, Jamie Xuelian Lee, Angel Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social Sciences Death Conversations End-of-Life Background: Low awareness about palliative care among the global public and healthcare communities has been frequently cited as a persistent barrier to palliative care acceptance. Given that knowledge shapes attitudes and encourages receptiveness, it is critical to examine factors that influence the motivation to increase knowledge. Health information-seeking from individuals and media has been identified as a key factor, as the process of accessing and interpreting information to enhance knowledge has been shown to positively impact health behaviours. Objective: Our study aimed to uncover public sentiments toward palliative care in Singapore. A conceptual framework was additionally developed to investigate the relationship between information-seeking preferences and knowledge, attitudes, receptiveness of palliative care, and comfort in death discussion. Design and Methods: A nationwide survey was conducted in Singapore with 1226 respondents aged 21 years and above. The data were analysed through a series of hierarchical multiple regression to examine the hypothesised role of information-seeking sources as predictors. Results: Our findings revealed that 53% of our participants were aware of palliative care and about 48% were receptive to receiving the care for themselves. It further showed that while information-seeking from individuals and media increases knowledge, attitudes and receptiveness to palliative care, the comfort level in death conversations was found to be positively associated only with individuals, especially healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the need for public health authorities to recognize people’s deep-seated beliefs and superstitions surrounding the concept of mortality. As Asians view death as a taboo topic that is to be avoided at all costs, it is necessary to adopt multipronged communication programs to address those fears. It is only when the larger communicative environment is driven by the media to encourage public discourse, and concurrently supported by timely interventions to trigger crucial conversations on end-of-life issues between individuals, their loved ones, and the healthcare team, can we advance awareness and benefits of palliative care among the public in Singapore. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was supported by the Singapore Management University-Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 1 Category B (Grant Approval No. 18-C207-SMU-017). 2024-02-14T02:37:04Z 2024-02-14T02:37:04Z 2023 Journal Article Yeo, S. L., Ng, R. H. L., Peh, T., Lwin, M. O., Chong, P., Neo, P. S. H., Zhou, J. X. & Lee, A. (2023). Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 17, 26323524231196311-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/26323524231196311 2632-3524 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173560 10.1177/26323524231196311 37719387 2-s2.0-85171437404 17 26323524231196311 en 18-C207-SMU-017 Palliative Care and Social Practice © 2023 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the Sage and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Death Conversations End-of-Life Yeo, Su Lin Ng, Raymond Han Lip Peh, Tan-Ying Lwin, May Oo Chong, Poh-Heng Neo, Patricia Soek Hui Zhou, Jamie Xuelian Lee, Angel Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title | Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title_full | Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title_fullStr | Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title_full_unstemmed | Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title_short | Public sentiments and the influence of information-seeking preferences on knowledge, attitudes, death conversation, and receptiveness toward palliative care: results from a nationwide survey in Singapore |
| title_sort | public sentiments and the influence of information seeking preferences on knowledge attitudes death conversation and receptiveness toward palliative care results from a nationwide survey in singapore |
| topic | Social Sciences Death Conversations End-of-Life |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173560 |
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