Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Palliative Medicine, ? (?), 2018, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2018 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Palliative Medicine page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/PMJ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Family carers’ experiences of coping with the deaths of adults in home settings
T2 - A narrative analysis of carers’ relevant background worries
AU - Thomas, Carol Jane
AU - Turner, Mary
AU - Payne, Sheila Alison
AU - Milligan, Christine
AU - Brearley, Sarah Grace
AU - Seamark, David
AU - Wang, Xu
AU - Blake, Susan
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Palliative Medicine, 32 (5), 2018, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2018 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Palliative Medicine page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/PMJ on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Background:Internationally, evidence on the support needs of family carers who look after a terminally ill adult in home settings is incomplete.Aim:To illustrate the relevance of ‘relevant background worries’ in family carers’ accounts of caring at home for a dying adult.Design:A qualitative cross-sectional observational study was conducted in England, United Kingdom, in 2011–2013 on the experiences of adult family carers (n = 59) of older dying adults (aged 50+ years) with malignant and/or non-malignant conditions. Interviews occurred post-bereavement. This article reports on a subset of participants’ interview transcripts (n = 30) where narrative analysis was undertaken.Setting/participants:Carers were interviewed in their home setting, having been purposively recruited via general practitioner practices in two study sites in England. The subset of participants (n = 30) was purposively selected from the parent sample with reference to carers’ age, relationship to the patient, family circumstances and study sites.Results:Evidence is provided on the importance of what we conceptualise as carers’ ‘relevant background worries’; these varied in nature, significance and impact. Four case studies are presented where these worries constituted psychosocial factors that impacted on caregivers’ actions and emotional well-being. Two themes are discussed: (1) whether relevant background worries are important enough to be identified and responded to and (2) how such worries could be picked up and managed by professionals.Conclusion:It is argued that the quality of clinical practice could be improved if specialist palliative care teams in community contexts both identified and responded to significant support needs associated with family carers’ relevant background worries.
AB - Background:Internationally, evidence on the support needs of family carers who look after a terminally ill adult in home settings is incomplete.Aim:To illustrate the relevance of ‘relevant background worries’ in family carers’ accounts of caring at home for a dying adult.Design:A qualitative cross-sectional observational study was conducted in England, United Kingdom, in 2011–2013 on the experiences of adult family carers (n = 59) of older dying adults (aged 50+ years) with malignant and/or non-malignant conditions. Interviews occurred post-bereavement. This article reports on a subset of participants’ interview transcripts (n = 30) where narrative analysis was undertaken.Setting/participants:Carers were interviewed in their home setting, having been purposively recruited via general practitioner practices in two study sites in England. The subset of participants (n = 30) was purposively selected from the parent sample with reference to carers’ age, relationship to the patient, family circumstances and study sites.Results:Evidence is provided on the importance of what we conceptualise as carers’ ‘relevant background worries’; these varied in nature, significance and impact. Four case studies are presented where these worries constituted psychosocial factors that impacted on caregivers’ actions and emotional well-being. Two themes are discussed: (1) whether relevant background worries are important enough to be identified and responded to and (2) how such worries could be picked up and managed by professionals.Conclusion:It is argued that the quality of clinical practice could be improved if specialist palliative care teams in community contexts both identified and responded to significant support needs associated with family carers’ relevant background worries.
KW - Palliative care
KW - end-of-life care
KW - family caregiving
KW - narrative methods
KW - narrative analysis
KW - home deaths
U2 - 10.1177/0269216318757134
DO - 10.1177/0269216318757134
M3 - Journal article
VL - 32
SP - 950
EP - 959
JO - Palliative Medicine
JF - Palliative Medicine
SN - 0269-2163
IS - 5
ER -