Citizens with a caregiving experience in the past year are more likely to participate in neighbourhood activities regarding serious illness, death or loss: a cross-sectional survey study

While death literacy is believed to foster social connections around serious illness, death and loss, limited evidence exists on whether it stimulates neighbourhood participation concerning these topics. This study measured the association between personal experiences with serious illness, death or loss in the past year and neighbourhood participation around these topics, and whether citizens’ self-perceived capacity, skills and self-efficacy developed from previous experiences, strengthens this association. A questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 2,324 citizens aged 18+ in two neighbourhoods in Flanders, Belgium, between February and April 2021; 714 citizens responded (31% response rate). Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that people with caregiving experience in the past year were more likely to participate in neighbourhood activities regarding serious illness, death or loss (ß = 0.161; CI = 0.378–1.276) than those without such experience. This association strengthened (ß = 0.193; CI = 0.588–1.393) when adding self-perceived capacity and skills developed from previous experiences to the analysis, indicating increased participation among those who felt they gained capacity and skills. We recommend that researchers look into other aspects of death literacy which might be better mediating predictors, and explore the mechanisms behind the associations we measured.