Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38737406›Full record

ArticlePalliative care and social practice2024

Willingness to support neighbours practically or emotionally: a cross-sectional survey among the general public.

Bert Quintiens, Tinne Smets, Kenneth Chambaere, Lieve Van den Block, Luc Deliens, Joachim Cohen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative care and social practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Bert QuintiensEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Laarbeeklaan 103, Brussels 1090, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7029-6466
Tinne SmetsEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
Kenneth ChambaereEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
Lieve Van den BlockEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
Luc DeliensEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8158-2422
Joachim CohenEnd-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Wider social networks are increasingly recognized for supporting people with care needs. Health-promoting initiatives around the end of life aim to foster these social connections but currently provide little insight into how willing people are to help neighbours facing support needs. Objectives: This study describes how willing people are to help neighbours who need support practically or emotionally, whether there is a difference in willingness depending on the type of support needed and what determines this willingness. Design: We applied a cross-sectional survey design. Methods: We distributed 4400 questionnaires to a random sample of people aged >15 across four municipalities in Flanders, Belgium. These surveys included attitudinal and experiential questions related to serious illness, caregiving and dying. Respondents rated their willingness (scale of 1-5) to provide support to different neighbours in hypothetical scenarios: (1) an older person in need of assistance and (2) a caregiver of a dying partner. Results: A total of 2008 questionnaires were returned (45.6%). The average willingness to support neighbours was 3.41 (case 1) and 3.85 (case 2). Helping with groceries scored highest; cooking and keeping company scored lowest. Factors associated with higher willingness included an optimistic outlook about receiving support from others, family caregiving experience and prior volunteering around serious illness or dying. Conclusion: People are generally willing to support their neighbours who need help practically or emotionally, especially when they have prior experience with illness, death or dying and when they felt supported by different groups of people. Community-based models that build support around people with care needs could explore to what extent this willingness translates into durable community support. Initiatives promoting social connection and cohesion around serious illness, caregiving and dying may harness this potential through experiential learning.

Indexed as

community involvementend of lifeexperiential learningfamily carenew public healthsocial capital

Identifiers

PMID38737406
PMCPMC11085024

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.