Terminally ill patients’ perception on healthcare providers’ communication of prognostic information: A qualitative study from Nigeria, West Africa

Abstract

In Nigeria, little is known about healthcare providers’ practice of prognostic information communication to terminally ill patients, especially from the patients’ viewpoint. This qualitative descriptive study explored views of terminally ill patients on: healthcare providers’ prognostic information communication practice, communicators of prognosis to them, and the condition under which healthcare providers communicate prognostic information to them. In-depth interviews were conducted. Fifteen terminally ill patients participated in the study. Data were analyzed as they were generated until data saturation point. Some healthcare providers do withhold prognostic information of terminally ill patients. Others communicated it with high optimism. Manner of communication seem to make some terminally ill patients believe God’s miracle for a cure despite their life-ending prognoses. Communication of prognostic information was mostly done by doctors whereas nurses and patient relatives did it occasionally. In the hospital’s clinic, some of the doctors communicate prognostic information to the patients in the presence of strangers. These results suggest a pattern of prognostic information communication to terminally ill patients that needs improvement. Development of locally adaptive prognostic information communication protocols and training of healthcare providers on how to use the protocols for effective prognostic information communication in a typical Nigerian teaching hospital is recommended.