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 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. A nationwide survey to understand public sentiments and the extent that information-seeking preferences can increase knowledge, attitudes, receptiveness of palliative care, and comfort level in death discussion in SingaporeLow awareness of palliative care is a barrier that persistently hinders palliative care acceptance among populations in developing and developed countries. As knowledge shapes attitudes and encourages receptiveness, it is vital that researchers uncover factors that influence the motivation to increase knowledge. Health information-seeking is a factor that deserves greater attention in palliative care research because the process of seeking out information on health concerns from other people or the media can greatly increase individuals' knowledge. As such, this nationwide survey involving 1226 participants was carried out in Singapore to understand the public sentiments toward palliative care. It further statistically analyzed if information-seeking (from individuals and the media) will increase knowledge, attitudes, receptiveness toward palliative care, and comfort level in death discussion.Our findings indicated that 53% of our participants were aware of palliative care and about 48% were receptive to receiving the care for themselves. Furthermore, while information-seeking from individuals and media increases knowledge, attitudes, and receptiveness to palliative care, people are only comfortable to engage in death discussion with individuals, especially healthcare professionals. Exposure to media alone is not enough to encourage individuals to want to talk about end-of-life issues including palliative care. As Asians view death as a taboo topic, it is important for public health authorities to recognize people's deep-seated beliefs and superstitions surrounding the concept of mortality. A multipronged communication program is therefore needed to address these fears. It is only when the larger communicative environment 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.