Abstract

Background: The most terminally ill patients are cared for by their family members. This study aimed to explore caregivers' awareness of and perception toward palliative care.
Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Najran University Hospital, Najran Region, Saudi Arabia, and focused on the 124 caregivers of terminally ill patients admitted to the hospital for palliative care or attending the outpatient palliative clinic during the study period. All participating caregivers provided information pertinent to this study using a pretested structured data collection instrument.
Results: Analyses revealed that 40 (32.3%) of the 124 caregivers comprising the study sample were unaware of palliative care prior to bringing their family member to the hospital. Respondents mostly sought information from healthcare providers (88, 71%) and the Internet (60, 48.4%). They primarily cited pain relief (48, 38.7%) as the main expectation from palliative care services. Moreover, 56 (45.2%) respondents were of the opinion that raising awareness was the main factor in the promotion of palliative care, and 48 (38.7%) respondents believed that health education about palliative care was inadequate.
Conclusion: Palliative care awareness of caregivers of terminally ill patients at Najran University Hospital is insufficient. Most of the participants emphasized the importance of public health education in promoting palliative care services.

Key words: Caregivers, cultural awareness, health education, palliative care, perception, KSA, Najran.