PAL-PRAT study: Healthcare workers’ knowledge and perception of palliative practices in a Cancer Center

Introduction: The issue of end-of-life care is the subject of a sensitive debate in French society, particularly regarding the possibility for certain patients to have access to medical assistance in dying. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and opinion of healthcare providers on the care practices for patients at the end of life, as well as to highlight any specificities in their discourse. Method: A survey of healthcare providers’ opinions, composed of closed and open questions, that were analyzed using a lexicometric approach, was distributed in a cancer center. Results: The results of the study reveal a good knowledge of the different procedures. Professionals considered that advance directives should be systematically collected; a majority of them differentiated euthanasia from deep continuous sedation and perceived the latter as a means of relieving patients’ suffering without inducing death. The different procedures related to the active assistance in dying were known by a majority of professionals and the survey did not identify a dominant trend concerning the will to practice euthanasia if the legal framework allowed it. Half of the participants considered their training insufficient, indicating the need to fill this gap. Discussion: This survey underlines the importance of training and support for the professionals caring for patients in palliative situation and their relatives in France.