Understanding Clinicians’ Perspectives on End-of-Life Dreams and Visions: An International Survey
Muhammad Hamza Habib, Laura Fontanesi, Zainab Yusufali Motiwala, Arzu Çöltekin, Sidharth Misra, Alasdair MacLullich, Rasita Vinay, Caroline Hertler, David Blum, Katrin Singler, Catarina Simões, Vincenza Frisardi, Virginia Boccardi, Giuseppe Bellelli, Meltem Koca, Christopher W. Kerr, Christopher A. Jones, Simon Peng-Keller, Mathias SchlöglBackground:
End-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) are vivid, often subjective experiences that occur during the dying process. Even though the patient and family experiences of ELDVs are well documented, there is limited knowledge regarding the perspectives, preparedness, and perceived needs of health care professionals. ELDVs also remain insufficiently addressed in clinical care.
Objective:
To describe how frequently clinicians encounter ELDVs, perceived preparedness/training, and approaches to clinician and family education and communication.
Methods:
We conducted a survey to explore health care professional’s perspectives and experiences surrounding ELDVs. The
Results:
Briefly, 247 participants were eligible for analysis. Frequent encounters for ELDVs were reported by participants. Participants perceived positive effects on patients more frequently than negative effects (W = 446.0,
Conclusion:
ELDVs are common, but clinicians feel underprepared to respond to them. There is a need for structured training and institutional protocols. Future studies should include patients and their families and analyze how their experiences are shaped by physician responses.