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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.787
igaa057.787
Abstracts
Session 2910 (Poster)
Advance Care Planning and End-of-Life Issues
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Impact of Culture and Religion on End-of-Life Decisions Among Advanced Cancer Patients in Developing Countries
Johnson Justina Yevu 1 Popejoy Lori 2 1 
University of Missouri, Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, United States
2 
University of Missouri, Columbia MO, Columbia, Missouri, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”244 244
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Palliative care and end of life decisions are important components of quality care at the end-of-life. Individual’s perception of cancer diagnosis is affected by their customs and traditions, religious orientations and stigma. Culture and religion as a social determinant of health affects people’s interpretation of health and illness and is a major factor in deciding the type of care at end of life and death. The purpose of the review was to identify factors related to culture and/or religion that impact decision making at end of life among advanced cancer patients their primary family caregivers and healthcare providers. An extensive literature search was conducted in Psych Info, PubMed, Philosophy Index, Atlas Religion, and Academic Search Premier databases for primary studies on the topic. Primary studies conducted only in developing countries and among healthcare providers, advanced cancer patients and their primary family caregivers were included. Five studies met the inclusion criteria: two primary studies, one methodological paper, and two on perspectives. The studies reported economic status of the patient, family, culture, and religious beliefs as factors that affected decision making at the end of life. Improving cancer care in developing countries requires the accommodation of the culture, traditions, and religious beliefs of both healthcare providers, patients and family. Culturally appropriate care model is therefore needed to enhance palliative and end of life care in developing countries. Leininger’s Cultural Care Theory seem an appropriate path to take.