Public understanding of palliative care and preferences for place of end-of-life care and death: A national…

Cross-sectionalPalliative care and social practice· 2026

Public understanding of palliative care and preferences for place of end-of-life care and death: A national population-based latent class analysis.

Cecilia Larsdotter, Stina Nyblom, Henrik Imberg … Joakim Öhlén

Palliative & End-of-LifeCross-sectionalClinical practiceQ1IF 2.8

Most Swedish adults prefer end-of-life care at home, not hospital.

Public understanding of palliative care and preferences for place of end-of-life care and death: A national population-based latent class analysis.

Cecilia Larsdotter … Joakim Öhlén

Palliative care and social practice · 2026

Background

Dying in the preferred place is associated with improved wellbeing.

Purpose

To investigate preferences for place of end-of-life care and death in the Swedish adult population and specifically, to identify subgroups characterised by different understanding of palliative care and examine how preferences vary across these subgroups.

Methods

This study was based on a cross-sectional population-level survey.

n = 1,752 individuals

Results

most adults prefer dying at home rather than in a hospital

Preferred home care

59.6%

Preferred home death

54.2%

More results

A total of 1,752 individuals responded (48%).

Misunderstanding, such as believing that palliative care hastens death, was associated with preferences for hospital or nursing home.

The comprehensive understanding group included more women (57.6%), older (mean [SD] age: 57 [18] years), and university-educated individuals (48.2%).

“

Conclusion

Although the most preferred place for both care and death were home, preferences varied across subgroups defined by differing levels of understanding of palliative care and sociodemographic characteristics.

Public understanding of palliative care and preferences for place of end-of-life care and death: A national population-based latent class analysis.

Public understanding of palliative care and preferences for place of end-of-life care and death: A national population-based latent class analysis.

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