SINGAPORE — While less than a third of deaths occurred at home last year, a survey has shown that most Singaporeans wish to spend their last moments in their own home.

The Lien Foundation survey, released yesterday, also revealed that Singaporeans found hospice palliative care, which involves caring for terminally ill patients and helping them live comfortably during the last stages of their lives, to be expensive — a finding that healthcare experts said could deter people from seeking such care.

About 1,000 people took part in the survey, which was conducted between October and December.

Home emerged as the preferred place of death for 77 per cent of the respondents. Slightly more than three-quarters of these respondents would choose to die at home even without sufficient support from family, friends or medical professionals.

Last year, only 27 per cent of deaths occurred at home, while 61 per cent took place in hospitals.

Healthcare experts said the gap between expectations and reality when it comes to dying at home could be partly due to the perceived high cost of hospice palliative care.

Lien Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Lee Poh Wah said: “Home hospice care in Singapore is free, but maybe there is a perception that it is expensive because it’s conflated with this perception that medical costs are expensive.”

Only half of the respondents were aware of what hospice palliative care is, even though 76 per cent were open to receiving such care. The perception that hospice palliative care is expensive was also evident in more than half of those surveyed. Among those who would not consider such care, 43 per cent cited high costs as a factor.

However, Dr R Akhileswaran, Chairman of the Singapore Hospice Council and Chief Executive Officer of HCA Hospice Care, said charges for inpatient hospice care — about S$250 to S$350 per day — is only half the cost of a day’s hospitalisation.

Likewise, daycare charges in hospices range between S$10 and S$15 per day before subsidies, while all home palliative care is free.

Dr Jeremy Lim, Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Life Sciences from Oliver Wyman, suggested providing hospice palliative care in the community for free. “I believe there would be net savings,” said Dr Lim, who added that the cost of caring for patients at home or in the community is less than that of hospitalisation.

The survey also noted that the majority of the respondents saw the need for national conversations on death and dying, and felt the general public needed to know more about hospice palliative care. With more people willing to talk about death, Mr Lee said more open discussions will make end-of-life care “a real priority”.