End-of-life Communication From a Chinese Perspective

Inclusion Criteria

• •Patients:
• •Be aged older than 18 years
• •Have a defined incurable life-limiting illness with a likely life expectancy of fewer than 12 months (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2021), according to the consultation with the patient's physician
• •Have been informed of disease diagnosis and treatment
• •Be able to speak Mandarin and express clearly
• •Be able to provide informed consent
• •Family caregivers:
• •Be aged older than 18 years
• •One of the terminally ill patient's primary family caregivers who are familiar with patient's situation, which is defined as lived with or visited patients at least twice a week in the past month
• •Have been informed of patient's disease diagnosis and treatment
• •Be able to speak Mandarin
• •Be able to provide informed consent
• •Healthcare providers:
• •Be nurses, physicians or other healthcare professionals
• •Be experienced in providing treatment or care to patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses (whose likely life expectancies of fewer than 12 months) and family caregivers of such patients for at least five years (Koh et al., 2016)
• •Consent to participate in the study