Relative's suggestions for improvements in support from health professionals before and after a patient's death in general palliative care at home: A qualitative register study.

Publisher: Taylor & Francis Country of Publication: Sweden NLM ID: 8804206 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-6712 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 02839318 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Scand J Caring Sci Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Stockolm, Sweden : Taylor & Francis
Original Publication: Stockholm, Sweden : Almquist & Wiksell Periodical Co., [1987?-

Palliative Care* ; Qualitative Research* ; Family*/psychology; Humans ; Sweden ; Female ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged ; Registries ; Health Personnel/psychology ; Home Care Services ; Aged, 80 and over ; Social Support ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Professional-Family Relations

Introduction: The efforts of relatives in providing palliative care (PC) at home are important. Relatives take great responsibility, face many challenges and are at increased risk of poor physical and mental health. Support for these relatives is important, but they often do not receive the support they need. When PC is provided at home, the support for relatives before and after a patient's death must be improved. This study aimed to describe relatives' suggestions to improve the support from health professionals (HPs) before and after a patient's death in general PC at home.
Methods: This study had a qualitative descriptive design based on the data from open-ended questions in a survey collected from the Swedish Register of Palliative Care. The respondents were adult relatives involved in general PC at home across Sweden. The textual data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: The analysis identified four themes: (1) seeking increased access to HPs, (2) needing enhanced information, (3) desiring improved communication and (4) requesting individual support.
Conclusions: It is important to understand and address how the support to relatives may be improved to reduce the unmet needs of relatives. The findings of this study offer some concrete suggestions for improvement on ways to support relatives. Further research should focus on tailored support interventions so that HPs can provide optimal support for relatives before and after a patient's death when PC is provided at home.
(© 2024 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic College of Caring Science.)

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Blekinge Institute of Technology

Keywords: home care; palliative care; relatives; support improvements; support needs

Date Created: 20240123 Date Completed: 20240522 Latest Revision: 20240522

20240522

10.1111/scs.13239

38258965