Abstract:
Since the number of chronic disease patients and the demand for palliative care service augmented,
this sequential-exploratory inquiry, aiming at exploring and determining the quality of palliative care
service for chronic disease patients, was conducted at Felege Hiwot Hospital. The study population
was 576 chronic disease patients. Nine chronic disease patients and four key informants were selected
through purposive sampling technique. Proportionate sampling formula was used to determine the
number of respondents from each stratum of disease; then, two hundred thirty-six respondents were
selected with stratified random sampling method. Interview guidelines and an observation check-list
were used to gather the qualitative data and a structured questionnaire was used to gather the
quantitative data. Thematic analysis in the qualitative phase and one sample t-test, and a one way
ANOVA in the quantitative phase were applied to analyse the data. The type of palliative care service
provided was primary palliative care. Dysfunctional infrastructure and interaction, incapacity, scarcity
of drugs and supplies, lack of manpower, long waiting time, medical error, and poor complaint system
were the hurdles decelerating the quality of the palliative care service. The test results of one sample
t- test of quality ([t (235) = -10, p < 0.05] and satisfaction [t (235) = -11, p < 0.05] proved that the
quality of the ppc and the level of satisfaction of the chronic disease patients with the primary
palliative care were low. The results of the one way ANOVA analysis concerning quality ([F ((3)
(236)) = 89.9, p < 0.05] and satisfaction [F ((3) (236)) = 122, p < 0.05] attest that there were
statistically significant differences among the groups of patients with regard to the quality the ppc and
their satisfaction with it. The palliative care service didn‘t comprise structure, process and outcome in
such a way that it could manage the symptom and the pain of the diseases, and promote the quality of
life of patients.
Key words: primary palliative care, renal failure, breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, Felege