Project HOPE: Survey of South Florida Residents’ Knowledge and Opinions on End-of-Life Issues

Objective. To gain an understanding of knowledge and attitudes among the general population regarding end of life issues and hospice care among a convenience sample of South Florida residents. Background. Hospice is a comprehensive end of life health/support service. Depending on the setting and services provided hospice care may reduce end of life costs by 30-90%. Though use of hospice care has increased marginally in the past decade, hospice services are still underutilized and disparities in the use of hospice exist. Methods. Study design is cross sectional survey. A convenience sample of the population of South Florida was recruited at diverse community venues in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, Florida and by using participant driven sampling of social networks. The study instrument includes questions on advanced care planning, end of life care, knowledge and attitudes concerning hospice and communicating with doctors and family about end of life issues. Results. To date 51of 250 anticipated forms have been collected. Preliminary analysis revealed that 72% of participants did not want to be on a ventilator in the event that they were terminally ill, 90% did not want to be kept alive if they were brain dead, and 56% did not want to be kept alive if they were experiencing severe pain. Although 67% of participants said that if they were dying they would want hospice care for themselves, 35% thought that they could not afford it. Only 33% of participants correctly identified that Medicare pays for hospice and only 11% knew that most private insurance will cover hospice services. Conclusions. Though many people are aware that hospice exists and indicate that they would choose hospice care for themselves if they were terminally ill, the majority of people have very limited knowledge of hospice programs. Grants. None.