Emotions and end-of-life care workers in Hong Kon

Although death is an inevitable stage within the human lifecycle, it remains a difficult topic for people to talk about in both professional and social contexts. Effective end-of-life (EOL) communication is of vital importance to improving the planning and provision of palliative care services which is key for most countries and a global goal set by the World Health Organization. The underlying concepts embedded within these aspirations rely upon the ongoing, meaningful exchange of information and the development of positive relationships between various professionals and service users. Although significant cultural differences in approaches to talking about death have been acknowledged, a majority of the published EOL communication research has been undertaken in Western care settings or focused on aspects of intercultural communication between immigrants and local healthcare practitioners in high-income non-Asian countries.

This paper contributes unique insights into EOL communication in the Chinese context by drawing on the qualitative analysis of a series of interviews conducted with EOL care workers in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2022. These interviews explored a range of dimensions of communication including skills and training, strategies, and techniques for engaging with service users. Findings highlight the importance of both verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication as well as the important links between emotions, communication, and resilience for those people working in EOL services in the Chinese context.