Attitudes to Death and Dying in the UK, New Zealand, and Japan

“…Eight sources7 8 15 18 22–25 were identified which explored public attitudes to euthanasia. Of these, six were survey based with large sample sizes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK: a review of published literature

Cox

Bird

Arthur

et al. 2012

BMJ Support Palliat Care

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“…In Italy Ventafridda et al [24] found that none of 30 inpatients and 8 of 30 outpatients were not aware of their diagnosis. Also, Charlton et al [6] reported that in Japan, 22 of 102 patients did not want to know the truth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This approach, the most current one, gives the utmost importance to items such as informed consent, open communication, full disclosure and patient information. An active role for patients in medical decisions is advocated [3,6], and health professionals are encouraged to give better information to their patients [10,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantity and quality of information desired by Portuguese cancer patients

Pimentel

Ferreira

Real

et al. 1999

Supportive Care in Cancer

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Disclosure of the diagnosis of cancer to the patients affected has always been a controversial issue in the doctor-patient relationship. Undoubtedly this is so not only because of differences between countries and cultures, but also because there have been changes of opinion over the years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and quantity of information desired by Portuguese cancer patients, and how and from whom they want to hear this information. Our sample comprised a total of 193 cancer patients, 87 men and 106 women. We found that 68.9% knew what their diagnosis was. In our sample, 74% wanted "as much information as possible, good or bad"; 85% said they wanted to know if their disease was cancer; 95% wanted to know the best or worst likely outcome of their disease; and 96.4% wanted to know the chances of getting cured. Most patients said they would prefer to be informed by physicians (92.7%) and have access to a telephone help-line, books and television. In conclusion, most patients wanted to know as much as possible about their illness and treatment, and the majority preferred to be involved in treatment decisions.

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“…7,8 By contrast, the premium placed on patients' autonomy may be less prevalent in other developed countries where the cultural context is characterized by the respect of the traditional authority of physicians, a strong religiosity, as well as a lesser emancipation of the individual from his/her family. For example, for Japan and Italy, many studies have illustrated the dominance of the "not telling" culture in doctor-patient communication (for Italy: Gordon and Paci 9 and Grassi et al 10 ; for Japan: Charlton and Dovey 11 and Takayama et al 12 ). Thus, the doctor-patient communication and the mode of disclosure of information about disease may be some of the most culturally resilient patterns of medical practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%