Are care staff equipped for end-of-life communication? A cross-sectional study in long-term care facilities to identify determinants of self-efficacy

Table 2 Knowledge of the definition of palliative care^a

	Mental health facility	Nursing home	Care home	p-value
	N = 137	N = 178	N = 262
	%	%	%
Items answered according to the definition
The aim of palliative care is treatment of pain only (disagree)	87.1	77.5	79.2	0.110
Palliative care starts in the last weeks of life (disagree)	81.0	49.4*	43.5*	< 0.001
Palliative care and intensive life prolonging treatment can be combined (agree)	50.0	29.8	33.5	0.001
Palliative care includes spiritual care (agree)	88.8	65.2*	69.6*	< 0.001
Palliative care includes care for the resident’s family/relatives (agree)	94.8	85.4*	84.6*	0.018
Number of correct answers
0–1	3.4	13.5	10.4	< 0.001
2–3	20.7	48.3	50.8
4–5	75.9	38.2	38.8

^aMissing values varied between settings: mental health facilities: 21 missing observations (15%), nursing home: 0 missing observations, care homes: 2 missing observations (< 1%). Χ [2]-test to test inter-group differences
^*Significant difference (p < 0.05) compared to mental health facilities (reference) in logistic regression analyses, controlling for gender, age, education level, palliative care training, years working in direct patient care, and hours per week working in this facility

ISSN: 1472-684X