This new joint article by our Dr Margo Turnbull, Dr Carol Yu, and PhD student Ivy Wu, published in Patient Education and Counseling, an Elsevier journal under ScienceDirect, examines the knowledge gap in intracultural aspects of end-of-life (EOL) communication in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan. The article presents a synthesis of practitioners’ accounts of EOL communication in these three locations.
The review was prospectively registered on PROSPERO and systematically searched using the terms 'communication', 'End-of-Life', 'Hong Kong', 'China', and 'Taiwan'. The research highlights several factors that influence EOL communication, including Chinese culture and philosophy, inadequate communication skills training and psychological support for practitioners, and legislative and organizational factors.
The study concludes that education and training for practitioners and public education about the EOL needs to be strengthened. An enhanced understanding of cultural influences on EOL communication will improve service delivery and increase awareness in multicultural communities. The practical implications of this research include increasing practical and workplace-based support for EOL workers to facilitate meaningful communication practices, and considering the influence of culture and the readiness of patients and families to engage in communication.
Open access to the article from HERE.
