The 'good death' in Mainland China - A Scoping Review.

Abstract

Since the mid 80'ies, the western palliative care philosophy has influenced the development of palliative care in mainland China. However, it has caused several challenges. To explore the understanding of the 'good death' among authorities, professionals, patients, and their relatives in end-of-life care settings in mainland China. Scoping review. The PRISMA-ScR checklist was used. The study is not registered. End-of-life care settings, Mainland China. Authorities, healthcare professionals, adult patients, and general population in mainland China. Literature searches were performed through Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Sciences from 2001-2021, last search 21.4.2021. Inclusion criteria were: Empirical research studies investigating 'good death' or political documents about 'good death', perspectives from authorities, professionals, patients, and/or relatives, and studies following the Declaration of Helsinki. Exclusion criteria were: Literature reviews, languages other than English and Chinese, editorials, letters, comments, and children's death/dying.The analysis consisted of analysing the data including a descriptive numerical summary analysis and a qualitative thematic analysis. Nineteen articles and two political documents were included. The 19 studies were carried out from 2003-2020, with data collected from 1999 to 2019. The political documents were written in 2012 and 2017, respectively. The thematic analysis resulted in three themes: 'Medicalisation of death', 'Communication about death - a clash between two philosophies', and 'Dying and death were socially dependent'. The medicalisation of death meant the understanding of the 'good death' primarily focused on physical symptoms and treatments. The good death was understood as painless and symptom-free, where all symptoms could be measured and assessed. Dignity and shared decision-making were connected to the understanding of the 'good death'. However, the contents of the 'good death' varied across the different actors. The understanding of the 'good death' in mainland China was a negotiation between Chinese traditional philosophy and contemporary western medicine practice. There was a tension between openness and silence about death, which reflected the importance of death education. The understanding of the 'good death' consisted partly of a timely and practical preparation for the death and afterlife, partly of a matter of social and financial issues. There seemed to be a clash between two different cultures in the understanding of a good death in Mainland China, where western philosophy seemed to rule the political medical actors while traditional Chinese philosophy seemed to rule parts of the population.