Impact of Health Awareness Campaign in Improving the Perception of the Community about Palliative Care: A Pre- and Post-intervention Study in Rural Tamil Nadu

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The only way to provide palliative care to a huge number of people in need in India is through community participation, which can be achieved by improving the awareness of the people about palliative care. We conducted a study to assess the impact of health awareness campaign in improving the awareness of people about palliative care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a pre- and post-intervention study conducted in Kadaperikuppam village of Vanur Taluk in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. One respondent each from 145 households in the village was interviewed regarding the knowledge and attitude on palliative care before and after the health awareness campaign using a pretested questionnaire. Health awareness campaign consisted of skit, pamphlet distribution, poster presentation, giving door-to-door information, and general interaction with palliative team in the village. RESULTS: The awareness regarding palliative care during the preintervention was nil. After the intervention, it increased to 62.8%. However, there was a decline in the attitude and the interest of the people toward palliative care. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Health awareness campaigns can increase the awareness of people in the rural parts of the country about palliative care. However, to improve the attitude of the community about delivery of palliative care services, more sustained efforts are required to make them believe that palliative care can be provided by community volunteers also and not necessarily only by professionals.