Measuring attitudes towards the dying process: A systematic review of tools

Groebe, Bernadette; Strupp, Julia; Eisenmann, Yvonne; Schmidt, Holger; Schlomann, Anna; Rietz, Christian; Voltz, Raymond

doi:10.1177/0269216317748889

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…The application of sentiment analysis to death and dying attitudes and emotions represents a unique opportunity to form a deeper understanding about how the public perceive this topic, which is increasing importance to health policy and service delivery. Textual sentiment analysis of how a person describes death can build upon knowledge gained from more traditional self-report measures like surveys [5][6][7][54][55][56] and enable a more comprehensive triangulation of this phenomenon [29].…”

Section: Research Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It would also be informative to examine how respondents' death word sentiment relates to their self-reported fear of death and other emotive death attitudes rated on standardised instruments. This could enable a broader insight into various aspects people associate with death [7].…”

Section: Strengths Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the current evidence base is limited and there have been calls for more rigorous research to better capture public views on dying and death. Understanding contemporary community attitudes and feelings towards death is valuable because it may inform the development of future health services, improve patient and family care at the end-of-life, and it may also inform policy on ways to encourage conversations leading to greater death preparedness and planning [3,[5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the potential arising from computerized advancements in text and sentiment analysis technology that enable reliable psycholinguistic assessment of the language people use, word use and sentiment remains a relatively understudied phenomenon [14] in relation to health issues. Until recently, word sentiment has been neglected in the context of death and dying, even though there have been calls for the use of alternative methods to investigate attitudes towards dying [7]. The recent linguistic works of Gramling and Gramling [20] on clinical cancer palliative care conversations [21], and Semino and colleagues [22] on metaphors used in cancer and end-of-life discussions are notable exceptions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Words describing feelings about death: A comparison of sentiment for self and others and changes over time

et al. 2021

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Understanding public attitudes towards death is needed to inform health policies to foster community death awareness and preparedness. Linguistic sentiment analysis of how people describe their feelings about death can add to knowledge gained from traditional self-reports. This study provided the first description of emotive attitudes expressed towards death utilising textual sentiment analysis for the dimensions of valence, arousal and dominance. A linguistic lexicon of sentiment norms was applied to activities conducted in an online course for the general-public designed to generate discussion about death. We analysed the sentiment of words people chose to describe feelings about death, for themselves, for perceptions of the feelings of ‘others’, and for longitudinal changes over the time-period of exposure to a course about death (n = 1491). The results demonstrated that sadness pervades affective responses to death, and that inevitability, peace, and fear were also frequent reactions. However, words chosen to represent perceptions of others’ feelings towards death suggested that participants perceived others as feeling more negative about death than they do themselves. Analysis of valence, arousal and dominance dimensions of sentiment pre-to-post course participation demonstrated that participants chose significantly happier (more positive) valence words, less arousing (calmer) words, and more dominant (in-control) words to express their feelings about death by the course end. This suggests that the course may have been helpful in participants becoming more emotionally accepting in their feelings and attitude towards death. Furthermore, the change over time appeared greater for younger participants, who showed more increase in the dominance (power/control) and pleasantness (valence) in words chosen at course completion. Sentiment analysis of words to describe death usefully extended our understanding of community death attitudes and emotions. Future application of sentiment analysis to other related areas of health policy interest such as attitudes towards Advance Care Planning and palliative care may prove fruitful.

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Section: Research Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strengths Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Words describing feelings about death: A comparison of sentiment for self and others and changes over time

et al. 2021

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“…However, these tools were rarely developed or validated for use in daily care, such as nursing care or PHC. 20 Conversational guidelines to assist end-of-life planning in daily care that also consider end-of-life attitudes in detail are currently missing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Talk About Attitudes Toward the End of Life: A Qualitative Study

Groebe

Rietz

Voltz

et al. 2019

Am J Hosp Palliat Care

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To individually plan end-of-life care, open communication about a person’s preferences and attitudes toward the end of life can facilitate dignity and quality of life in patients and relatives. To improve communication, structured guiding tools might be used as door openers. However, most tools focus on care preferences and decisions without assessing the person’s underlying attitudes in detail. This study aims to get insights into specific requirements and conditions for communication about the end of life in various end-of-life care settings. Four focus groups were conducted with volunteers and professionals from nursing and psychosocial care (16 females, 2 males) working in hospice and palliative care and long-term care settings in Germany. A semistructured interview guideline on experiences and aspects associated with end-of-life conversations was used. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by a content analytic approach. Having end-of-life discussions primarily depended on a pleasant atmosphere, trusting bonds between conversation partners, and professional attitudes of staff members. Nursing home staff felt obligated to initiate conversations, but some reported insecurities doing so. Starting “early,” including relatives, and having continuous discussions seemed beneficial for end-of-life conversations. Implementing conversations into existing care structures and using low-threshold impulses to start conversations were helpful. Individualized approaches should be preferred. Each staff member can be a partner in detailed conversations about end-of-life attitudes, but some felt unprepared doing so. Further skill training concerning end-of-life discussions is needed. Communication might be facilitated by open-format tools using low-threshold impulses when conditions of the care setting are considered.

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