Swiss Medical Weekly
Communication and relational factors supporting the willingness to initiate palliative care in advanced cancer: a factorial vignette survey
By Rebecca R. Lamprecht, Robert Staeck, Carsten Sauer and 3 others.
Abstract
Background and study aims
Guidelines recommend early initiation of palliative care alongside anticancer therapy. However, ongoing treatment is often associated with delayed referral to palliative care. Factors that positively influence the initiation of palliative care have been studied in the past, but there is a gap in research regarding the individual degree of influence these factors have on the willingness to initiate palliative care. Therefore, we explored the degree of influence of 11 different factors on willingness to initiate palliative care, focusing on communicational and relational aspects.
Methods
We conducted a factorial survey among 1572 members of the Swiss public. Participants were presented with vignettes designed to explore willingness to start palliative care. A response format ranging from -5 to +5 was provided. Vignettes were analysed using mixed-effects regression models.