KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES ABOUT HOSPICE CARE AMONG CHINESE AMERICAN OLDER ADULTS

摘要

The study purpose is to explore knowledge and attitudes about hospice care among Chinese American older adults. Among senior center members (n=150), 20.7% had heard of hospice. Among these participants, 89.7% knew that hospice was care provided when there is a terminal illness and the individual is near the end of life. Few knew about other components of hospice care, including that it could be provided at home, or the services and benefits included. Most (74.7%) would want hospice only at the end of life. Beliefs included: hospice is a place where people go to die (78.6%); hospice is not as good as treatment in the hospital (58.3%); hospice is unnecessary if they were dying because their family (34.3%) or God (30.6%) would take care of them; choosing hospice means that you are not fighting for your life (38.3%); and hospice causes people to die before their time (34.1%).