title: Preference of Chinese general public and healthcare providers for a good death.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to find and compare the current situation between common people and healthcare providers' preferences for a good death in the context of Chinese culture.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire survey covering 190 ordinary Chinese people and 323 healthcare providers was conducted. An inventory of the good death was translated and the subjects were surveyed about their attitude toward it.
  
  
  METHODS
  Permission to conduct the study was granted by department chiefs, nurse managers and the participants themselves. The participants were informed that they took part on a voluntary and anonymous basis, that they could withdraw at any time, that they had the right to ignore questions they did not wish to answer, and that whatever they chose to do would not jeopardize their employment conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The attributes that were perceived as important by major respondents for a good death were maintaining hope and pleasure, good relationship with medical staff, good relationship with family, independence, environment comfort, being respected as an individual, preparation for death, physical and psychological comfort, dying in a favorite place, and not being a burden to others. And some relatively less important characteristics were life completion, receiving enough treatment, natural death, controlling over the future, unawareness of death, pride and beauty, feeling that one's life is worth living, and religious and spiritual comfort. We also found that healthcare providers were more likely than general out-patients to perceive "physical and psychological comfort," "dying in a favorite place," "good relationship with medical staff," and "natural death" as important for a good death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study offers healthcare providers in China a fundamental understanding of the normal expectations of the general public for a good death. It is believed that these findings in our study are valuable to improve palliative care in China. We compared the attitudes of Chinese and Westerners and found some differences, which suggested that cultural difference should be an important consideration to achieve a good death in China. We also found that healthcare providers see good death differently from general public, indicating that the criteria for good death warrant further study.
authors.affiliation: Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. ChinaNusing Department, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haishan
authors.affiliation: Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. ChinaNusing Department, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. ChinaTongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. ChinaFirst Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shihezi University, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hongjuan
authors.affiliation: Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, P.R. China tyzeng@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tieying
authors.affiliation: First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Shihezi University, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xuemei
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003643:Death; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000208:ethnology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attitude to death; Chinese people; good death; healthcare provider; palliative care