{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,7]],"date-time":"2026-03-07T04:53:03Z","timestamp":1772859183462,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,27]],"date-time":"2020-06-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1593216000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: International research has shown that healthcare professionals (HCPs) and nonhealthcare professionals (NHCPs) are unaware of the goals and purposes of palliative care. This study evaluates the knowledge of palliative care among a sample of Portuguese adults and correlates their level of knowledge with age, gender, profession, and experience of family member\u2019s palliative care. Method: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out on a sample of 152 HCPs and 440 NHCPs who completed an anonymous questionnaire of sociodemographic, family, and professional data, and an instrument of 26 dichotomous (true or false) questions focusing on palliative care goals and purposes. Results: The 592 participants had a mean age of 31.3 \u00b1 11.1 years, and most were female. Statistically significant differences between statements considered as correct by HCPs and NHCPs were found in 24 statements; HCPs had the highest percentage of correct answers. The terms most frequently associated with palliative care mentioned by NHCPs were chronic and progressive disease (n = 76), while HCPs mostly mentioned quality-of-life promotion (n = 29). Women, the elderly, and HCPs had a higher level of knowledge regarding palliative care (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: Results clearly show gaps in knowledge of palliative care, especially among NHCPs. An integrated approach is needed to inform and clarify the philosophy and goals of palliative care in different settings in order to improve knowledge.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17134630","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,29]],"date-time":"2020-06-29T05:28:56Z","timestamp":1593408536000},"page":"4630","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Knowledge and Myths about Palliative Care among the General Public and Health Care Professionals in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9035-8548","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria dos Anjos","family":"Dixe","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria), Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5894-8457","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irene Dixe de Oliveira","family":"Santo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Weiss Memorial Hospital, 4646 North Marine Drive, Chicago, IL 60640, USA"}]},{"given":"Saudade","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria), Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Helena","family":"Catarino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria), Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6605-4197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing, Nursing School of Coimbra (ESEnfC), 3046-851 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5021-773X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Querido","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria), Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Research in Health and Information Systems (CINTESIS), NursID, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1080-9535","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos","family":"Laranjeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria), Campus 2, Morro do Lena, Alto do Vieiro, Apartado 4137, 2411-901 Leiria Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Centre for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), Rua de Santo Andr\u00e9\u201466\u201368, Campus 5, Polit\u00e9cnico de Leiria, 2410-541 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"Research in Education and Community Intervention (RECI I&amp;D), Piaget Institute of Viseu, 3515-776 Viseu, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1007\/s11019-019-09918-2","article-title":"A gap between the philosophy and the practice of palliative healthcare: Sociological perspectives on the practice of nurses in specialised palliative homecare","volume":"23","author":"Glasdam","year":"2020","journal-title":"Med. Health Care Philos."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"345","DOI":"10.1017\/S1478951511000356","article-title":"Palliative care as a human right: Update","volume":"9","author":"Breitbart","year":"2011","journal-title":"Palliat. Support. Care"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.4103\/2008-7802.173916","article-title":"Palliative care: An integral component of human right to health","volume":"7","author":"Shrivastava","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Prev. Med."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organization (2019, October 05). UN Advocacy on Palliative Care as a Human Right: A Public Health Fact Sheet. Available online: http:\/\/www.ifhhro.org\/images\/stories\/ifhhro\/."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"21","article-title":"Debunking hospice myths","volume":"51","author":"Spengler","year":"2015","journal-title":"Fairfld. Cty. Bus. J."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Union for International Cancer Control [UICC] (2020, April 13). World Cancer Declaration. Available online: http:\/\/www.uicc.org\/sites\/main\/files\/private\/131119_UICC_WorldCancerDeclaration_2013_1.pdf."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.4103\/JNSM.JNSM_37_18","article-title":"General public awareness, knowledge and beliefs toward palliative care in a saudi population","volume":"2","author":"Alkhudairi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Nat. Sci. Med."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"253","article-title":"Awareness, understanding and attitudes of Italians regarding palliative care","volume":"47","author":"Benini","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ann. Ist. Super. Sanita."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"918","DOI":"10.1089\/jpm.2010.0529","article-title":"Public awareness, knowledge of availability, and readiness for cancer palliative care services: A population-based survey across four regions in Japan","volume":"14","author":"Hirai","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Palliat. Med."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McIlfatrick, S., Hasson, F., McLaughlin, D., Johnston, G., Roulston, A., Rutherford, L., Noble, H., Kelly, S., Craig, A., and Kernohan, W. (2013). Public awareness and attitudes toward palliative care in Northern Ireland. BMC Palliat. Care, 12.","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-684X-12-34"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"224","DOI":"10.1177\/0269216315606645","article-title":"Education, implementation, and policy barriers to greater integration of palliative care: A literature review","volume":"30","author":"Aldridge","year":"2016","journal-title":"Palliat. Med."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1487","DOI":"10.1177\/0269216318785295","article-title":"The palliative care knowledge of nursing home staff: The EU FP7 PACE cross-sectional survey in 322 nursing homes in six European countries","volume":"32","author":"Smets","year":"2018","journal-title":"Palliat. Med."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"86","article-title":"Core competencies in palliative care: An EAPC white paper on palliative care education","volume":"20","author":"Gamondi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Eur. J. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1444-1683.2003.00073.x","article-title":"Facts and fallacies in palliative care","volume":"2","author":"Khoo","year":"2003","journal-title":"Asia Pac. Fam. Med."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.12968\/ijpn.2004.10.12.17281","article-title":"Time to debunk some palliative care myths","volume":"10","author":"Pennell","year":"2004","journal-title":"Int. J. Palliat. Nurs."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Canadian Virtual Hospice (2020, April 13). 10 Myths about Palliative Care. Available online: http:\/\/www.virtualhospice.ca\/en_US\/Main+Site+Navigation\/Home\/Topics\/Topics\/What+Is+Palliative+Care_\/10+Myths+about+Palliative+Care.aspx."},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"256","article-title":"Palliative care: Therapy for the living","volume":"58","author":"Gallager","year":"2016","journal-title":"BC Med. J."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Valassi, E. (2020, April 13). Qu\u00e9 Son Los Cuidados Paliativos? Mitos a refutar. Centro Estudos Cuidados y Atenci\u00f3n Paliativa (CESCAP). Available online: http:\/\/www.cescap.org\/2016\/01\/26\/que-son-los-cuidados-paliativos-mitos-a-refutar\/."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association (2020, April 13). Hospice Myths & Facts. Available online: https:\/\/www.floridahospices.org\/hospice-palliative-care\/about-hospice\/hospice-myths-facts\/."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Naierman, N., and Turner, J. (2020, April 13). Debunking the Myths of Hospice. American Hospice Foundation. Available online: https:\/\/americanhospice.org\/learning-about-hospice\/debunking-the-myths-of-hospice\/."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1007","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pec.2016.12.022","article-title":"Improving patient knowledge of palliative care: Randomized controlled intervention study","volume":"100","author":"Kozlov","year":"2016","journal-title":"Patient Educ. Couns."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1174","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909118763800","article-title":"Evaluating palliative care resources available to the public using the internet and social media","volume":"35","author":"Claudio","year":"2018","journal-title":"Am. J. Hosp. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1097\/NJH.0000000000000481","article-title":"An integrative review on knowledge and attitudes of nurses toward palliative care: Implications for practice","volume":"21","author":"Achora","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Hosp. Palliat. Nurs."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Bardin, L. (2016). An\u00e1lise de Conte\u00fado, Edic\u00f5es 70. [3rd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909117725725","article-title":"Knowledge of palliative care among community-dwelling adults","volume":"35","author":"Kozlov","year":"2018","journal-title":"Am. J. Hosp. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909117715215","article-title":"Awareness and misperceptions of hospice and palliative care: A population-based survey study","volume":"35","author":"Shalev","year":"2018","journal-title":"Am. J. Hosp. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1007\/s00520-015-2788-4","article-title":"The effects of community-wide dissemination of information on perceptions of palliative care, knowledge about opioids, and sense of security among cancer patients, their families, and the general public","volume":"24","author":"Akiyama","year":"2016","journal-title":"Support. Care Cancer"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909114546885","article-title":"Knowledge about hospice: Exploring misconceptions, attitudes, and preferences for care","volume":"33","author":"Cagle","year":"2016","journal-title":"Am. J. Hosp. Palliat. Med."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"M146","DOI":"10.1093\/gerona\/56.3.M146","article-title":"Cardiovascular Health Study Collaborative Research Group. Frailty in older adults: Evidence for a phenotype","volume":"56","author":"Fried","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"292","DOI":"10.7861\/clinmedicine.14-3-292","article-title":"Palliative care for frail older people","volume":"14","author":"Pal","year":"2014","journal-title":"Clin. Med."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"31","article-title":"Awareness, knowledge and attitude about palliative care, in general, population and health care professionals in tertiary care hospital","volume":"3","author":"Gopal","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Sci. Stud."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E141","DOI":"10.1188\/10.ONF.E141-E150","article-title":"Oncology nurses\u2019 personal understandings about palliative care","volume":"37","author":"Mahon","year":"2010","journal-title":"Oncol. Nurs. Forum"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"478","DOI":"10.1177\/1403494817751329","article-title":"Public awareness of palliative care in Sweden","volume":"46","author":"Westerlund","year":"2018","journal-title":"Scand. J. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Taber, J., Ellis, E., Reblin, M., Ellington, L., and Ferrer, R. (2019). Knowledge of and beliefs about palliative care in a nationally-representative U.S. sample. PLoS ONE, 14.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0219074"},{"key":"ref_35","first-page":"22","article-title":"White Paper on standards and norms for hospice and palliative care in Europe: Part 2","volume":"17","author":"Radbruch","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eur. J. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1017\/S1478951518000986","article-title":"Postgraduate palliative care education for all healthcare providers in Europe: Results from an EAPC survey","volume":"17","author":"Paal","year":"2019","journal-title":"Palliat. Support. Care"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/17\/13\/4630\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T09:43:42Z","timestamp":1760175822000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/17\/13\/4630"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,27]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"13","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph17134630"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph17134630","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,6,27]]}}}