Abstract ▼ AI-Helper

Purpose: This study was to compare the perceptions about hospice and the meaning of life between the participants and non-participants of the hospice volunteer education program. Method: Descriptive survey research design was used. Participants were 63, and the data collecting period was from Octobe...

Purpose: This study was to compare the perceptions about hospice and the meaning of life between the participants and non-participants of the hospice volunteer education program. Method: Descriptive survey research design was used. Participants were 63, and the data collecting period was from October to December, 2006. Instrument developed by Jung-Hee Kim(1990) and Eun-Ja Lee(1998) was modified to measure the perceptions about hospice. To measure the meaning of life, P.I.L (Purpose In Life) instrument by Crumbaugh and Maholick(1969) was utilized. The data were analyzed using $X^2-test$, t-test and Pearson-Correlation Coefficient. Results: 1. The participants in the hospice volunteer education program demonstrated higher perception scores about hospice than the non-participants (t=5.193, p= .001). 2. The program participants also showed higher scores of the meaning of life than non-participants (t=3.084, p=.005). 3. The perception about hospice and the meaning of life had positive correlation (r= .46, p= .01). Conclusion: Therefore, hospice education program must be established in a continual and systematic way in order to standardize the hospice system in Korea.

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