Researchers from the ATLANTES project of the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Navarra suggest that news coverage on palliative care approaches health care practice and emphasizes its contributions to providing for patient's quality of life and environment.

The above is the main conclusion of the paper "The message of palliative care. An analysis of the press," which won the second prize for best oral presentation at 10^th Spanish Society for Palliative Care (SECPAL) National Conference. The research was conducted by Carlos Centeno, principal investigator of the ICS project, by sociologist José Miguel Carrasco, and by Javier Errea and Miriam Garcia of Errea Communication.

Through the MyNews data base, the team selected all news pieces published between 2009 and 2014 in print and online editions that included the terms "hospice" and "palliative care." A total of 260 articles were analyzed with a quantitative description and qualitative content analysis.

Patient benefits

According to the authors, "information specifically focused on palliative care is rarely addressed or provided (i.e., purpose, activity, etc.)" and it is used instrumentally to address issues related to health management and the political context.

The authors further stressed that "the message conveyed on hospice care primarily focuses on the process of death and only occasionally on the benefits it can have for patients. It is often overshadowed by issues on the social debate agenda, such as euthanasia or the concept of death with dignity."

The authors suggest future lines of research that they are interested in developing, including: exploring the social perception of palliative care, how its image affects patients and their families, and the role that professionals in this discipline have in developing a message on palliative care.

The ATLANTES Program is one of eight projects within the Institute for Culture and Society, the Humanities and Social Sciences research center of the University of Navarra.