Cognition and attitudes of hospice care among healthcare providers: a case study of Sichuan Province

Background Under the background of the increasing aging population and cancer burden in China, the role of hospice care has become increasingly prominent. The government has paid more attention to the development of hospice care and set up pilot hospitals to promote hospice care. Moreover, healthcare providers play a leading role in hospice care services. To improve the quality of hospice care, the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China proposed to set up hospice care training bases in municipal or above-level hospitals with hospice care or relevant work foundations, and train healthcare providers on hospice care. This study aimed to investigate the current situation of cognition and attitudes about hospice care among healthcare providers and provide a theoretical basis for hospital training.Methods We used a quantitative design. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1591 healthcare providers from August 2022 to November 2022. SPSS 22.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results As a significant way of continuing education for healthcare providers, hospital training hasn't been effectively exploited in hospice care education. The average score of hospice care knowledge among participants was (7.74 +/- 2.242) and the average score of hospice care attitudes among participants was (4.55 +/- 1.503). According to multivariate linear regression analysis, sex (p < 0.001), education levels (p < 0.001), and professional titles (p = 0.018) of participants had significant difference on the score of hospice care knowledge; education levels (p = 0.009) and professional titles (p = 0.016) of participants had significant difference on the score of hospice care attitudes.Conclusions There were some misunderstandings about hospice care among healthcare providers and their attitudes towards hospice care were inactive. It's suggested that hospitals should carry out professional and systematic education courses to help healthcare providers understand hospice care correctly, and participate in hospice care services actively.