Background: Support for families during a person's advanced disease and also into the bereavement
period is a major component of palliative care. However, because of the gaps in
bereavement research in this area, there is a lack of evidence-based direction for health professionals.
Purpose: This study sought to explore family caregiver perceptions of their relative's death
and assess how well they were coping. Caregivers were also asked to identify which health
professional strategies helped them prepare for and respond to their relative's death.
Methods: Two months after their relative's death primary family caregivers (n = 45) of patients
with advanced cancer completed a structured interview and were also assessed to determine
if they were confronted by traumatic grief.
Results: Seven percent of caregivers were confronted by traumatic grief; most caregivers
perceived they were coping reasonably well and could identify positive outcomes related to
their experience. Caregivers noted the significant benefits of receiving comprehensive information
to prepare them for the future and expressed appreciation for the support provided
by specialist palliative care services.
Conclusions: There is a large body of literature that highlights the negative consequences
of being a family caregiver to a person with advanced disease. The sample population in this
study, however, seemed to be reasonably well functioning; the results of the study were therefore
somewhat surprising. A research agenda and key clinical implications are outlined in order
to aid direction in targeting bereavement interventions.
