Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of a structured death education program for older adults with
chronic illness and their family caregivers.
Methods: This study adopted two-group, nonrandomized quasi-experimental design. Patientecaregiver
dyads in the intervention group (N = 40 dyads) engaged in the death education program at the bedside
once a week for 5 weeks, and were compared with participants (N = 40 dyads) in the control group who
received usual health education. The program consisted of five sessions based on the Interaction Model
of Client Health Behavior. Death attitude, death competence, well-being, family function, and satisfaction
were measured at baseline (T0), immediately after the intervention (T1), and 1 month later (T2). Data
collection was conducted from July 30, 2019, to December 30, 2019.
Results: The intention-to-treat analysis The intention-to-treat analysis of between groups at 1-month
follow-up revealed that the intervention group had greater decreases in the fear of death (p=.002, 95% CI
-2.53, -0.47; p<.001, 95% CI -3.61, -1.65) and death avoidance (p<.001, 95% CI -3.46, -1.84; p<.001, 95% CI
-3.89, -2.43), had greater increases in the neutral acceptance (p=.032, 95% CI 0.05, 1.38; p<.001, 95% CI
0.99, 2.56) and death competence (p<.001, 95% CI 4.10, 8.01; p<.001, 95% CI 7.80, 12.11) in patients and
caregivers, respectively. There were significant intergroup differences over time for patient well-being of
(p<.001, 95% CI 3.06, 9.74) and satisfaction of (p<.001, 95% CI 2.01, 4.59). Results were consistent with the
results from the sensitivity analysis.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility and benefits of death education in hospitals and
provided an implementation plan for nursing professionals. Nurses should consider providing death
education for older adults with chronic diseases and their families to promote the development of
palliative care and the quality of end-of-life.