Effects of a Death Education Intervention for Older People with Chronic Disease and Family Caregivers: A Quasi-Experimental Study

PurposeTo investigate the effectiveness of a structured death education program for older adults with chronic illness and their family caregivers.MethodsThis study adopted two-group, nonrandomized quasi-experimental design. Patient–caregiver dyads in the intervention group (N = 40 dyads) engaged in the death education program at the bedside once a week for 5 weeks, and were compared with participants (N = 40 dyads) in the control group who received usual health education. The program consisted of five sessions based on the Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior. Death attitude, death competence, well-being, family function, and satisfaction were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and 1 month later (T2). Data collection was conducted from July 30, 2019, to December 30, 2019.ResultsThe intention-to-treat analysis The intention-to-treat analysis of between groups at 1-month follow-up revealed that the intervention group had greater decreases in the fear of death (p=.002, 95% CI -2.53, -0.47; p<.001, 95% CI -3.61, -1.65) and death avoidance (p<.001, 95% CI -3.46, -1.84; p<.001, 95% CI -3.89, -2.43), had greater increases in the neutral acceptance (p=.032, 95% CI 0.05, 1.38; p<.001, 95% CI 0.99, 2.56) and death competence (p<.001, 95% CI 4.10, 8.01; p<.001, 95% CI 7.80, 12.11) in patients and caregivers, respectively. There were significant intergroup differences over time for patient well-being of (p<.001, 95% CI 3.06, 9.74) and satisfaction of (p<.001, 95% CI 2.01, 4.59). Results were consistent with the results from the sensitivity analysis.ConclusionThis study demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of death education in hospitals and provided an implementation plan for nursing professionals. Nurses should consider providing death education for older adults with chronic diseases and their families to promote the development of palliative care and the quality of end-of-life.