RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ADVANCE DIRECTIVES OF WILL, MEANING OF LIFE AND RELIGIOUS ATTITUDE

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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between knowledge about advance directives, meaning in life, and religious attitude from the perspective of primary health care physicians and nurses. Method: Analytical cross-sectional study in which 110 professionals responded to three instruments: a questionnaire on advance directives, the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the Religious Attitude Scale-20. Spearman correlation analyses (r) were performed to verify the relationship between the variables, with a significance level of 0.05. Results: Most professionals (79.1%) claimed not to have knowledge about advance directives. Significant, albeit weak, correlations were found between the Search subscale of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire and the desire for family members to complete advance directives, as well as between the total scores and components of religious attitude and the Search subscale of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. The scores of the Search subscale were significantly higher in the group with higher levels of religious attitude. Conclusion: Primary health care professionals have limited knowledge about advance directives, making it important to improve training and support for these professionals by integrating cultural and religious aspects into practical guidelines and continuous training programs, in order to promote an environment where they feel prepared to discuss end-of-life care.