Perception and utilization of hospice care among residents of a rural settlement in Kenya

Abstract

Problem statement: Globally, 35 million people are suffering from life limiting illnesses and they require hospice care. In sub Saharan Africa, out of the 5.7 million persons suffering from life limiting illness, only 1.6 million individuals are receiving hospice care. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the level of awareness, perception and utilization on hospice care among residents of Ingobor sub location Nakuru town west constituency. Ethical clearance was obtained from Mount Kenya University ethics and review committee and from the area chief. Methodology: Descriptive cross sectional study design was adopted and targeted all residents of Ingobor aged 18 years an above. Proportionate sampling procedure was used to obtain the sample size of each village and systematic sampling of the households was done and respondents were randomly selected from the sampled households. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and the obtained data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20 and presented in tables, bar graphs and pie charts. Findings: Perception of hospice care 95% of the respondents were in favor of hospice care when asked whether they believe hospice care can help to relieve patients’ pain and other symptoms. On utilization, 7% of the respondents knew patients who were receiving or who had received hospice care while 92% did not know of any. Conclusion: The utilization of care is too low however the residents of Ingobor had a positive perception after being given an explanation as to what is hospice care. The study recommends Establishment of parallel approach ensuring that hospice care is more integrated into health service system alongside a continued public health approach to hospice care in order to ensure that such services are sought out when required.