Last Aid Courses as a Means for Public Palliative Care Education—A Narrative Review of the Literature and 10 Years of Experience Around the World with Implications for Future Research
<b>Objective</b>: To provide a narrative overview of the scientific knowledge on Last Aid Courses and experiences from different countries. <b>Background</b>: The levels of death literacy, grief literacy, and knowledge about palliative care are low in many countries around the world. For many people, dying, death, and grief are still a taboo. Public Palliative Care Education (PPCE), the public knowledge approach, and the Last Aid Course (LAC) aim to increase death literacy, grief literacy, and public knowledge about palliative care. <b>Methods</b>: A literature search in the databases PubMed/Medline, CINAHL, and PsycInfo was undertaken. Other additional sources were found by hand searching, books, reference lists, and the internet. A narrative overview of the existing literature on LAC and Public Palliative Care Education (PPCE) is provided. Experiences with PPCE and LAC from different countries are presented. Based on the findings, a future agenda for research on PPCE and LAC is presented. <b>Results and Discussion</b>: PPCE and LAC have been introduced in 23 countries. A total of 17 articles and reviews on Last Aid were included. Research on the effects of LAC in different countries and cultural issues connected to LAC are ongoing. <b>Conclusions</b>: Since 2015, LACs have been introduced in 23 different countries. The LAC, the LAC-KT, and PPCE may enhance the public debate on dying, death, grief, and palliative care and may empower people to contribute to end-of-life care in the community. Future research on PPCE, the LAC, and the LAC-KT should focus on retention over time and the long-term effects of the courses.
Authors
- Pandeli Pani
- Jason Mills (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5584-5225)
- Georg Bollig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0367-5295)
- Erika Zelko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2730-9118)
- Bianca G. Neumann
- Sindy Müller-Koch
Institutions
- Johannes Kepler University of Linz (AT)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Wittenberg University (US)
- Deutsche Welle (DE)
- University of Maribor (SI)
- NZOZ Dom Sue Ryder (PL)
- University Clinical Centre Maribor (SI)
- Helios Kliniken (DE)
- University Hospital Cologne (DE)
- Lancaster University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Healthcare
- Published
- 2025-12-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14010096
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.88