Spiritual Welling-Being, Attitude to Death and Perception of Hospice Care in College Students

Lee, Young Eun; Choi, Eun Ah; Lee, Kyoung Eun

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study is to provide baseline data for the development of an educational program for hospice care for college students.
METHODS
A survey was conducted at three universities in B city with 143 students from September 5, 2014 through September 26, 2014. The data were analyzed by the SPSS 18 program. This study was approved by IRB.
RESULTS
The college students' spiritual well-being was at a medium level. Their attitudes to death were neutral, and perception of hospice care was at a medium level. Most of the participants (93.0%) had no training in hospice care. The participants' awareness of the purpose of hospice care was at a relatively high level. Their awareness of the need for hospice care was at a moderate level. The participants' spiritual well-being and their attitudes to death showed a weak but positive correlation (r=0.179, P=0.030). The relationship between their spiritual well-being and awareness of hospice care were positively correlated (r=0.203, P=0.015).
CONCLUSION
The participants' perception of hospice care was low. Most of them had no experience of hospice care education. Also, the higher the spiritual stability was, the higher the participants' perception of the purpose and the necessity of hospice care was. And their perception of the hospice care varied depending on their family relationship, satisfaction with school life, and cognition of hospice care. Therefore, we need consider these variables to develop a hospice education program to enhance college students' attitudes to death and their perception of hospice care.