Public Awareness of Palliative Care: A Nationally Representative Sample of Jordanian Adults.

CONTEXT: Internationally, studies suggest that inadequate comprehension of the concept of palliative care and misconceptions about it hinder the effective use of palliative care, especially in developing nations. OBJECTIVE: To assess the awareness of the adult population in Jordan regarding palliative care. METHODS: The study used a cross-sectional design and an online self-administered questionnaire survey. The recruitment method was convenience snowball sampling of three thousand nine hundred forty-two Jordanian adults covering 12 governorates. Participants were recruited through social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. The process of gathering data commenced in October -December 2023. Descriptive statistics were computed. RESULTS: A study of 3942 respondents in Jordan found that 45% have some knowledge of palliative care, with 31% being pretty knowledgeable. Most respondents (89%) strongly agree that patients with incurable illnesses should receive palliative care, with cancer patients showing the highest level of agreement (96%). The most agreed-upon aspect of palliative care is controlling pain and symptoms at home, while the least agreed-upon aspect is providing information on benefits and financial matters. The study also highlighted the link between palliative care and mortality, suggesting the need for increased awareness and education. CONCLUSION: The demand for palliative care in Jordan is increasing, requiring increased access, a holistic approach, open discussions, and easily accessible information. Challenges include integrating palliative care into non-malignant progressive diseases, ensuring comprehensive end-of-life care, promoting societal receptiveness towards mortality, enhancing information accessibility, and health promotion efforts. The study's results indicate the importance of implementing educational strategies and engaging families and communities in policymaking to change public knowledge and attitudes toward palliative care.

Cyberchondria, Anxiety Sensitivity, Hypochondria, and Internet Addiction: Implications for Mental Health Professionals.

Repetitive online searches for health information increase anxieties and result in Internet addiction. Internet addiction, cyberchondria, anxiety sensitivity, and hypochondria have been studied separately, but how these concepts are reciprocally linked has not been investigated. This study aimed to determine the levels, correlations, and predictors of Internet addiction, cyberchondria, anxiety sensitivity, and hypochondria among students based on the sample's characteristics. A sample of 143 university students participated in this cross-sectional online survey. A self-reported questionnaire was employed to collect data from students. The studied concepts had moderate to high correlations with each other and with the students' characteristics. Not getting infected with the coronavirus was among the demographic factors inserted into the regression model that only predicted cyberchondria. The model of cyberchondria was significant and explained 11.5% of the variance in the score of concepts. The results of the standard regression analysis indicated that the model predicting Internet addiction accounted for 41.2% of the variability. Our unique findings indicate that cyberchondria can contribute to developing Internet addiction compared to earlier studies. The findings suggest the importance of empowering students to overcome their anxieties by managing cyberchondria and Internet addiction. Mental health professionals, namely psychiatric nurses, are at the forefront of taking preventive mental health measures on campus, such as screening and referring students who exhibit these problems to psychological support and counseling to cope with their anxieties.

Predictors of intention to get COVID-19 vaccine: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: People around the world look hesitant to get the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Identifying factors behind people's hesitancy is of great importance. AIM: This paper aimed at examining the predictors of the intention to get the COVID-19 vaccine in a sample of 281 Jordanians. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was employed to collect data on the intention to vaccination, knowledge and attitudes toward COVID-19, the perception of measures taken by the government to control COVID-19, self-rated health, and perceived susceptibility and severity of COVID-19. RESULTS: The subjects were hesitant to get the vaccine. Intention to get the vaccine was predicted by being male, working in the education field, and having a poor perception of health, better perception of the adequacy of governmental measures, positive attitudes towards COVID-19, and higher levels of perceived susceptibility to the disease. These predictor variables accounted for 25.5% of the total variance. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that this sample of Jordanian people had some hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine; variables in the study partially explained that. Several implications have been discussed, including further research is needed to fully understand the relationships between different variables and the intention to get the vaccine.