Table 2

Participants’ actual knowledge of components of the WHO definition of palliative care

Component of WHO definition of palliative careParticipants indicating they knew this component of the WHO definition*
No (weighted %) (95%)
Whole population
N=1518
Heard of palliative care
N=1362
High perceived knowledge of palliative care† (N=676)
Focused on improving patients’ quality of life1172 (76.0) (73.7 to 78.2)1161 (84.8) (82.8 to 86.8)630 (92.9) (90.9 to 94.9)
For patients of any age1157 (74.9) (72.7 to 77.2)1144 (83.5) (81.4 to 85.5)634 (93.7) (91.8 to 95.6)
For patients living with any serious illness1111 (72.6) (70.3 to 74.9)1100 (81.0) (78.9 to 83.2)556 (84.3) (81.5 to 87.1)
Includes physical, emotional, spiritual and social support1008 (65.4) (63.0 to 67.9)1000 (73.2) (70.8 to 75.6)579 (85.4) (82.6 to 88.2)
Can include support for family members969 (62.9) (60.4 to 65.4)958 (70.1) (67.6 to 72.6)562 (82.7) (79.8 to 85.7)
Delivered with a team approach968 (62.7) (60.1 to 65.2)962 (70.2) (67.7 to 72.7)578 (85.0) (82.2 to 87.9)
Can be provided together with other medical treatments aimed at prolonging life829 (53.7) (51.1 to 56.3)822 (60.0) (57.3 to 62.7)461 (67.5) (63.8 to 71.1)
Can be involved early in the course of illness620 (39.9) (37.4 to 42.4)615 (44.6) (41.9 to 47.3)357 (51.5) (47.7 to 55.4)
High actual knowledge‡532 (34.1) (31.7 to 36.5)529 (38.2) (35.6 to 40.9)320 (46.1) (42.3 to 50.0)
  • *For each component, participants indicated ‘Yes, I knew this’ or ‘No, I didn’t know this’.

  • †High perceived knowledge was defined as endorsing ‘I know what palliative care is and could explain it to someone else’.

  • ‡High actual knowledge was defined as knowing at least five out of eight components, including that palliative care ‘can be provided together with other medical treatments aimed at prolonging life’ and that palliative care ‘can be involved early in the course of illness’.