A Review of Instruments Measuring the Basic Knowledge of Palliative Care Concepts in Teenagers

Abstract

This article reviews the literature for tools that measure the knowledge of basic palliative care concepts in teenagers as set forth by the World Health Organization who challenged Health Promoting Schools to provide health literacy and to increase knowledge of palliative care concepts. Teenagers constitute an underrepresented population in terms of understanding palliative care, despite often possessing the ability to make medical decisions. The aim of this article is to examine instruments that may be utilized to measure high school students’ knowledge of basic palliative care concepts, even if they may require modification. A Google Scholar and PubMed search resulted in finding that with modifications the Palliative Care Knowledge Scale and Palliative Care Quiz for Nurses can be utilized for measuring knowledge of palliative care concepts in teenagers’, which serves as a first step in meeting this population where they are in understanding and improving their heath literacy for future access and utilization of palliative care resources.