Assessment of the needs of hospice patients and their relatives by the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire

Introduction: As the suffering affects both the patients with advanced illness and their family, the disease puts the closest ones under enormous stress. Palliative care, therefore, is offered also to relatives who demonstrate signs of adaptive disorders on confronting the situation. The aim of the study is to examine the needs in stationary hospice among the patients and their relatives. Material and methods: The research group consisted of 338 persons — 181 palliative care patients and 157 relatives. The research took place in five stationary hospices in Poland. This study reconstructs the original version of Need Evaluation Questionnaire (NEQ) by Dr Marcello Tamburini questionnaire for the group of relatives in hospice. Results: Almost half of the patients articulated the necessity to improve the control of the symptoms they were experiencing; slightly over 40% preferred to have a better information of the diagnosis and current progress of the illness. Almost half of the family members (45.9%) declared the need to improve the control of the symptoms, followed by a “demand” for a better knowledge (40%) about the diagnosis and the course of the illness. Least chosen was the information about insurance (10.8%) and better quality of services (13.4%). Conclusions: Both groups of respondents demonstrated the similar intensity of needs associated with the perception of care. The most common need declared was one for a better control of the symptoms. Palliat Med Pract 2018; 12, 4: 186–192