Clinical Implications for Supporting Caregivers at the End-of-Life: Findings and from a Qualitative Study
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Date
2012Author
Forbat, Liz
McManus, Elaine
Haraldsdottir, Erna
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Forbat, L., McManus, E. & Haraldsdottir, E. (2012) Clinical Implications for Supporting Caregivers at the End-of-Life: Findings and from a Qualitative Study, Contemporary Family Therapy, vol. 34, , pp. 282-292,
Abstract
Despite families providing considerable care at end of life, there are substantial
gaps in the provision of supportive care. A qualitative interview study was conducted with
17 caregivers of people supported by an adult hospice to explore the support needs of
families. Family members readily identified the ways in which the diagnosis of a life limiting
illness impacted on them and the family as a whole, not just the patient. Implications
for practice demonstrate the need to intervene at a family and relational level prior
to bereavement, in order to mitigate complicated grief for the surviving family members.
Such an approach offers a fruitful prospective alternative to supporting caregivers post bereavement.