Nursing Publications
Family Members Providing Home-Based Palliative Care to Older Adults: The Enactment of Multiple Roles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2008
Journal
Canadian Journal on Aging
Volume
27
Issue
3
First Page
267
Last Page
283
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cja.0.0032
Abstract
Canadians are experiencing increased life expectancy and chronic illness requiring end-of-life care. There is limited research on the multiple roles for family members providing home-based palliative care. Based on a larger ethnographic study of client-family-provider relationships in home-based palliative care, this qualitative secondary analysis explores the enactment of multiple roles for family members providing home-based palliative care to seniors with advanced cancer. Family members had multiple expectations to provide care but felt their expectations of services were unmet. The process of enacting multiple roles was depicted by three interrelated themes: balancing, re-prioritizing, and evolving. Positive and negative health responses resulted from attempts to minimize personal health while simultaneously maintaining health. “True” family-centred care was found to be lacking, but should be a goal of health professionals involved in end-of-life care.
