China’s hospice care in the making: roles, practice, and the constraints of development

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the increasingly important roles of hospice care in Chinese society, and points out that the development of hospice care in China is often restricted by certain factors. Based on a qualitative study, it examines the ethical dilemmas faced by hospice care, including life, medicine, family, and society. It puts forward specific countermeasures for terminal patients, medical personnel, family members, and social work related to hospice care, and argues that the accessibility, availability, acceptability, and effectiveness of hospice care services should be improved from multiple dimensions, such as policy support, service supply, social atmosphere, and individual participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Hospice care
• practice
• development
• constraints
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the The UCCL - The Universities’ China Committee in London, UK. And The Dengfeng Talent Support Programme (Level B) of Nanjing University, China [Grant number: 0117/14912205].

Notes on contributors

Yan Li

Yan Li is currently a Professor at the School of Government, Nanjing University, China. He obtained his PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK.