| Purpose:The purpose of this study is to explore the status of palliative care and its influencing factors in China.A better understanding will inform future expansion and acceptance of palliative care services in this region of the country.Method:This study is a qialitative study.Interpretive phenomenology and purposive sampling was used.To conduct this research,semi-structured interviews of a one-by one pattern was utilized.Gao's five steps for phenomenology analysis was used for the data analysis.Results:Nine patients,eleven families,and sixteen healthcare workers participated in this study.The patients and family caregivers possessed some information about palliative care.Health care workers had a relatively high level of knowledge.There is a relatively positive attitude towards palliative care among participants.They recognized that palliative care is very useful and has favorable prospects for development.The palliative care services consist of six parts:free drugs to control pain,psychological counseling,caring skills,introduction of social resources,bereavement care,death education.The most significant factors include Chinese cultural and social influences,acceptance,healthcare workers,support,education,and publicity.Conclusion:The participants care most about the pain relief and symptom control.The present palliative care service include some psychological measures,and need to be concerned more about the families.The services should be improved.The services have positive effects towards patients and families' quality of life.The social acceptance is not high in China.To promote the development of palliative care,the government,healthcare workers,citizens must work hard to change the opinion about death and disease.The increased acceptance of palliative care to avoid over-treatment,to avoid the waste of medical resources,to let patients and their families get more benefits from the services requires advocates for increased available resources. |
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