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What makes grief difficult? Perspectives from bereaved family caregivers and healthcare providers of advanced cancer patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2010

Kelli I. Stajduhar ,
Wanda Martin  and
Moira Cairns
Kelli I. Stajduhar*
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Wanda Martin
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Moira Cairns
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Kelli Stajduhar, School of Nursing and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, Sedgewick Building, Room A104, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, British Columbia, V8P 5C2, Canada. E-mail: kis@uvic.ca
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Abstract

Objective:

Family members who take on the role of caregiving for someone who is dying begin bereavement after being emotionally and physically taxed by the caregiving experience. The course of bereavement is influenced by a number of factors, including health problems, financial concerns, social support, and family relationships. This paper reports on findings from a secondary analysis of qualitative data from a study examining family caregiver coping in end-of-life cancer care, to describe, from the perspectives of bereaved family caregivers, their perspectives on what made their grief difficult.

Method:

Qualitative data from three focus groups with family caregivers (n = 19) and two focus groups with health professionals (n = 14) were subjected to interpretive thematic analysis.

Results:

Our finding suggest three broad areas that make family caregivers' grief difficult: (1) dealing with occurrences in everyday life; (2) dealing with challenges specific to the caregiving situation; and (3) dealing with the healthcare system.

Significance of results:

The findings provide an important beginning point in understanding the types of issues that seem to make grief difficult for family caregivers of cancer patients at the end of life and can help professional groups to understand what is needed by family caregivers in terms of support and delivery of services.

Keywords

Advanced cancerGriefBereavementFamily caregiversHealthcare providers
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2010 , pp. 277 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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