Table 1 Survey vignettes eliciting preferences for setting of dying in three scenarios
In this section, we will show you three hypothetical scenarios in which we: (a) ask you to imagine that you are dying and have two weeks to live, and (b) ask you about your preferences for where you would want to spend the last two weeks of life. | |
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Vignette 1. Imagine you are currently dying from an illness, and in addition:  You have only a few symptoms associated with the disease you are dying from, including mild pain and minor difficulties with breathing. You would rate the severity of these symptoms as 1 out of 10, where 10 is the worst possible. You have no difficulty coping with these symptoms.  Family and friends are always available to help care for and support you  Health care professionals are readily available to visit you to attend to any health concerns you might have, even on weekends and evenings. It is also approximately 5 minutes to the closest hospital. | |
Vignette 2. Imagine you are currently dying from an illness, and in addition:  You have several symptoms associated with the disease you are dying from, including moderate pain, moderate difficulty breathing, and some difficulty walking. You would rate the severity of these symptoms as 5 out of 10, where 10 is the worst possible. You are having some difficulty coping with these symptoms.  Family and friends are usually, although not always, available to help care for and support you, and  Health care professionals are not always available to visit you to attend to any health concerns you might have. Their availability could be delayed or limited especially on weekends and evenings. It is also approximately 30 minutes to the closest hospital. | |
Vignette 3. Imagine you are currently dying from an illness, and in addition:  You have many symptoms associated with the disease you are dying from, including severe pain, severe difficulty breathing, very limited mobility, and some problems paying attention and remembering things. You would rate the severity of these symptoms as 10 out of 10, where 10 is the worst possible. You are having a great deal of difficulty coping with these symptoms.  You have no family or friends available to help care for or support you  Health care professionals are not available to visit you to attend to any health concerns you might have. It is also approximately 2 hours to the closest hospital. |