Let's talk about Death!

Channel NewsAsia
3 Apr 2009

Being a burden to one's family, medical cost and pain -- these are Singapore residents' top three fears about death, as revealed in a first ever survey on death attitudes in Singapore.

Commissioned by the Lien Foundation, the island-wide survey polled 800 people between the ages of 25 and 59 from October 2008 to January 2009.

The survey was conducted by Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

When asked about the top three most important things when one is dying or at the last stages of a terminal illness, the respondents said they want to be free from pain, surrounded by loved ones and to be conscious and able to communicate.

Eight in 10 respondents said they knew that hospices provide care for the terminally ill, but half of them did not know that hospices also provide daycare services and care in the homes of the terminally ill.

Only two in 10 are open to the idea of being in a hospice so that they can receive adequate care.

Six in 10 respondents said they are comfortable talking about their own death or dying.

But they are not comfortable talking about death or dying to someone who is terminally ill.