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The meaning of patient deaths is key to understanding professional bereavement. To validate its construct, we applied partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to online survey data from 563 Chinese physicians and nurses. Both the personal meaning and professional meaning contribute significantly while not interchangeably to the meaning of patient deaths. In addition to the loss of an acquaintance, the loss of a valuable life, and the loss of a professional goal, patient deaths can also mean trauma, bad luck, identity crisis, a warning, a learning opportunity, and a time to empathize with others' sufferings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the responses of 380 Han and 315 Tibetan respondents regarding their attitudes about death and factors influencing those attitudes using the Death Anxiety Scale and Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The results show that Tibetan respondents expressed more death anxiety, fear of death, death avoidance, and escape acceptance than the Han participants, while Han participants showed more neutral acceptance than the Tibetan participants. There was a significant interaction between age and gender around Approaching Death. In addition, the death attitudes of Han and Tibetan participants were influenced by religious beliefs, funeral experiences, and the way their families talked about death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively little is known about the experiences of Chinese widows, especially those living outside China. This qualitative study examines the experiences of eight Chinese or Hong Kong-born widows living in the UK. Using a semistructured approach to interviewing, participants were asked about their lives before, during, and after their spousal bereavement. Five major themes emerged: (1) complexity of marital lives; (2) experiences around the time of the death including fate; (3) loneliness and isolation; (4) the challenges of practical tasks; and finally, (5) current life. The implications of the findings for social policy and practice are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the validation of the Chinese versions of the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS), the short form of Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS), and the short form of Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) among 57 Chinese and English bilinguals and 224 Chinese university students. All the translated scales showed high correlations with the original versions. The translated SIDAS and refined SOSS demonstrated robust factor structures, good internal consistency, and convergent validity. Chinese students with self-reported depression symptoms tended to have higher glorification of suicide and lower suicide literacy. These brief scales fill an important gap in evaluating suicide outcomes in Chinese-speaking societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese people tend to use metaphorical expressions and rhetorical figures to convey meanings and emotions, and they usually talk about death implicitly. The assessment of death metaphors and images can provide a better understanding of Chinese personal perceptions of death. This study aimed at modifying the Chinese Death Metaphors Scale (CDMS; Cheung, 2005) and establishing one that is more suitable for Chinese people. Thirty-one death metaphor statements in Chinese were created from items of CDMS and an open questionnaire study. The item pool was tested with 425 participants and exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors (Comfortable/Painful/Sorrowful/Empty), differing with the two-factor structure (Positive/Negative) of the original CDMS. On the basis of this, a 24-item Revised Chinese Death Metaphors Scale was generated. It was carried out to 473 participants together with Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) for Confirmatory factor analysis, which revealed an acceptable model fit: χ2/df = 4.05, goodness-of-fit index = .85, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = .82, incremental fit index = .90, nonnormed fit index = .90, comparative fit index = .90, root mean square error of approximation = .08, all met the criteria standards for adequacy of fit. Construct validity, criterion-related validity with DAS, and composite reliability were all acceptable and reasonable. The Chinese Death Metaphors Scale-Revised is satisfactory and reliable and more suitable than previous instruments for use with Chinese people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

End-of-life care decision making has become a matter of serious ethical and legal concern in the three Far East Asian Countries of China, Japan, and Korea. Researchers in the three countries collaboratively conducted a comparative descriptive study with respect to physicians’ perspectives concerning end-of-life care decisions. In spite of cultural similarities, each country has its own unique set of social, cultural, and political circumstances. So the content and scope of policies and laws on end-of-life decision reflect the differing views of people based on their social status, moral values, religious beliefs, and economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are currently around a million Chinese households where the only child has died and the mother is beyond reproductive age. The number of such bereaved parents, known as shidu fumu, is forecast to increase to over 11 million by 2050. Using a sample survey conducted in 2013 in Shaanxi Province, the article explores the vulnerability of shidu fumu by various measures of well-being. Such parents are more vulnerable than nonbereaved parents in every respect. There are also significant differences in well-being between shidu fumu due to parental characteristics. We argue that policies supporting shidu fumu should be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]