Assessment of Elderly Patient Satisfaction about Palliative Care Services for Cancer

Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing challenges associated with life-threatening illness, whether physical, psychological, social or spiritual. Aim: the study aimed to assess elderly patient satisfaction about palliative care services for cancer. Research design: a descriptive correlational design was used. Setting: this study conducted in pain management outpatient clinic at the national oncology institute, at Cairo governorate. Subjects: This study was descriptive; A convenient sample was conducted among 283 patients. Tools: data were collected by using A structured interview questionnaire sheet was used to assess elderly patient satisfaction about palliative care services for cancer. This tool consists of four parts as the following; the first part concerned with socio-demographic characteristics for elderly patients with cancer. The second part consisted of medical history for elderly patients with cancer. The third part contain Servqual multidimensional tool. While, the fourth part collect data about level of satisfaction of the patients. Results : shows that more than two fifth (42%) of elderly patients were neutral regarding the quality of palliative care characteristics and also less than half (47.3%) were neutral satisfied regarding health care providers. moreover, less than one quarter of elderly patients had satisfactory level regarding total patient satisfaction. Conclusion: there was statistically significant relation between gender, educational level, and residence place with the total patient’s satisfactory, there was a significant statistical difference in elderly patient satisfaction about the service between the the in rural areas. Recommendations: q uality and accessible palliative care system needs to be integrated into primary health care, community and home-based care, supporting care providers such as family and community volunteers.