Psychological and social profile of family caregivers on commencement of palliative care

Abstract

Context: Palliative care services are required to support patients who have advanced, life-threatening, noncurable disease, and their family caregivers. Comprehensive psychological and social support for bereaved family members also is expected. However, recent systematic reviews have demonstrated significant gaps in evidence-based approaches for such support. Furthermore, a comprehensive understanding of the psychological and social response to the family caregiver role is required for support to be optimized. Objectives: We sought to examine the psychological and social profile of family caregivers on commencement of receiving palliative care services. Methods: A self-report questionnaire ..