As time is limited, creation of a legacy document, particularly when aided by a care partner, is an effective method of facilitating a sense of dignity. However, access to care has been a problem for many individuals enrolled in community dwelling hospice care. Providing Dignity Therapy, (DT) a short-term individualized psychotherapy intervention…

Background: Illness and death are part of life for everyone, including people with intellectual disabilities. This study investigated the extent to which staff communicate about death with people with intellectual disability facing terminal illness or bereavement. Method: Staff who support people with intellectual disability in the UK (n = 690)…

This article is taken from a larger longitudinal study that used caregiver interviews, caregiver surveys, and caregiver statistical information of one community. The interviews were conducted with six spousal caregivers to examine the narratives produced by spouses actively caring for their partners with dementia. The spousal caregivers were…

Purpose: To identify differences in perspectives that may complicate the process of joint decision making at the end of life, this study determined the agreement of family and staff perspectives about end-of-life experiences in nursing homes and residential care/assisted living communities and whether family and staff roles, involvement in care,…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe good quality care at the end of life (EOL) for hospice-enrolled residents in assisted living facilities (ALFs). Design and Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to obtain detailed descriptions of EOL care provided by ALF medication aides, caregivers, nurses, and hospice nurses in…

This qualitative study of nine women examined the changes in their everyday lives as they cared for their terminally-ill husbands and after their husbands died. It also studied how the women coped with these changes, and how their coping contributed to their identity change from wife to widow. Symbolic interaction was utilized to study the changes…

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to develop measures of end-of-life (EOL) care processes in nursing homes and to validate the instrument for measuring them. Design and Methods: A survey of directors of nursing was conducted in 608 eligible nursing homes in New York State. Responses were obtained from 313 (51.5% response rate) facilities.…

Purpose: We designed this study to examine the end-of-life (EOL) experience in long-term care (LTC) based on input from key stakeholders. Design and Methods: The study consisted of 10 homogeneous focus groups drawn from a purposive sample of LTC residents (2 groups; total n = 11), family caregivers (2 groups; total n = 19), paraprofessional staff…

Caregivers experience multiple losses during the downhill trajectory of a loved one's terminal illness. Using mixed methods, this two-stage study explored caregiver grief during a terminal illness and after the care recipient's death. Caregiver grief was a state of heightened responsiveness during end-stage care: anxiety, hostility, depression,…

Notes that burnout among caregivers of the terminally ill is related to the various ways in which people meet their death. Provides examples of reactions to different types of death and makes suggestions for identifying and coping with caregiver burnout throughout the spectrum of individuals, relationships, and modes of death. (Author/NB)

Analyzed how nurses deal with terminal and dying patients in two inpatient wards in Belgian general hospital. Observed that nurses often felt dissatisfied with their terminal caregiving. Suggests terminal care include specific physical, social, religious, and psychological services, given to terminal patient and family, to obtain as high a level…

Reviews literature on burnout and its prevention among caregivers to dying. Concludes that health care providers working with dying experience stressors unique to their specialty but also experience stressors common to other health care workers. Summarizes external and internal stressors common to specialty field and offers suggestions for…

In an effort to address the stressors accompanying work with the dying, a special "Phoenix" group for caregivers is introduced. Planning considerations, group format, and accompanying structured activities are presented. Describes individual sessions which focus on mourning, transition from mourning to disengaging, disengaging, transition from…

Analyzed response bias among 34 recipients of care in hospice. Found nonrespondents to have better bereavement prognoses and tended to care for patients who were younger, male, and in program for shorter time. Nonrespondents were in contact with staff less than were respondents. Data are consistent with earlier research showing significant…

In this article, the authors explore the creative and expressive arts, specifically "memoirs of loss" as a healing resource that both engenders hope and love and meaning-filled care, and emancipatory and humanist popular education. The authors present some key definitions and the general background to this article's creation. Then, they…