Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the attitude toward death and recognition of hospice of community dwellers and to examine the differentiation between the attitude, recognition, and demographic variables. Method: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study using a questionnaire. The Fear of Death Scale (FODS) made by Collect & Lester (1969) and translated and revised by Kim (2003) was used to measure the fear of death. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The subjects were725 community dwellers, 65.8% female with a mean age of 39.9 years. The mean FODS score was 3.17 out of 5, showing a slightly high negative attitude to death. There was a statistically significant difference between the type of religion and total FODS (F=3.91. p=.02). Of the respondents, 66.5% had heard of hospice and 5.5% had received hospice care. Conclusion: Based on the study results, various types of death education program for community dwellers, including the content of hospice care, should be developed. In addition, public relations for the settlement of desirable dying culture and hospice service need to be activated.

Keywords

• Hospice;
• Attitude to death;
• Community

• 죽음에 대한 태도;
• 호스피스;
• 지역사회 주민;