Abstract
Satisfaction with care is an important indicator for family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer and is linked to the quality of life. Despite this, few studies have examined the aspects of satisfaction with care of family caregivers of inpatients with cancer in general wards. This qualitative study aimed to elucidate the elements of satisfaction with the care that inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards and their family caregivers receive from medical staff, as perceived by the family caregivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer. Participants were asked about the care received until then from medical staff, the features of satisfactory care, and the aspects of care they felt were unsatisfactory or could become satisfactory with improvement. The data were analyzed with the content analysis method and the six categories were extracted. For family caregivers of inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards, along with the care identified as important in palliative care, the methods of alleviating symptoms and explaining the patient’s condition were also important. The results highlight the importance of determining a patient-oriented approach and explanations together with each patient and family caregiver, based on an understanding of the long treatment process.
Highlights
Cancer has a large impact on physical, psychological, and social factors in the patients themselves and their family caregivers [1]
This qualitative study aimed to elucidate the elements of satisfaction with the care that inpatients with terminal cancer in general wards and their family caregivers receive from medical staff, as perceived by the family caregivers
In Japan, the number of cancer patients spending their end of life at a palliative care unit or at home is increasing, but as of 2014, about 80% still spend their final days on a general ward [8]
Summary
Cancer has a large impact on physical, psychological, and social factors in the patients themselves and their family caregivers [1]. Family caregivers of patients with terminal cancer require complicated and advanced knowledge and must make decisions and face the death of a family member while supporting the patient’s financial, social, and psychological needs [5] [6]. Family caregivers in general wards have a lower level of satisfaction [10] and even a lower QOL [11] [12] [13] than family caregivers of patients receiving hospice palliative care. One characteristic of family caregivers is that they wish for the patient’s recovery even at the stage when no more treatments are available [14] This means that it is highly likely that the family caregivers cannot accept facing the patient’s death, and that a specific type of intervention is needed for general wards
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