Context Palliative care patients and their family caregivers may have a foreshortened perspective of time left to live, or the expectation of the patient’s death in the near future. Patients and caregivers may report distress in physical, psychological, or existential/spiritual realms. Objectives To conduct a randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of retired senior volunteers (RSVs) in delivering a reminiscence and creative activity intervention aimed at alleviating palliative care patient and caregiver distress. Methods Of the 45 dyads that completed baseline, 28 completed post-intervention and 24 completed follow-up. The intervention group received three home visits by RSVs; control group families received three supportive telephone calls by research staff. Measures included symptom assessment and associated burden, depression, religiousness/spirituality, and meaning in life. Results Patients in the intervention group reported a significantly greater reduction in frequency of emotional symptoms (P = 0.02) and emotional symptom bother (P = 0.04) than the control group, as well as improved spiritual functioning. Family caregivers in the intervention group were more likely than control caregivers to endorse items on the Meaning in Life Scale (P = 0.02). Only improvement in intervention patients’ emotional symptom bother maintained at follow-up after discontinuing RSV contact (P = 0.024). Conclusion Delivery of the intervention by RSVs had a positive impact on palliative care patients’ emotional symptoms and burden and caregivers’ meaning in life. Meaningful prolonged engagement with palliative care patients and caregivers, possibly through alternative modes of treatment delivery such as continued RSV contact, may be necessary for maintenance of therapeutic effects.

While it is known that social engagement is important for the well-being of older people, its role among residents in assisted living (AL) residences has not been well explored. The purposes of this study were to explore the experiences of social engagement among AL residents and explain its components and processes as unique to this setting. Qualitative data were collected via semistructured, in-depth interviews with 29 residents in four AL residences in a Southern state. Salient themes were derived using the grounded theory approach. Findings revealed the complexity of social engagement and were organized around five themes related to characteristics of desired social relationships, the perspective of time and loss, barriers to and resources for social engagement, and strategies to develop or modify relationships. AL providers could make concerted efforts to develop practices to provide residents with more social and emotional resources and help them engage in meaningful social interactions.

RSVs reported having a positive impact on palliative care dyads and experiencing personal benefit via increased meaning in life. Two issues require further research attention: (a) further translation of this cost-effective mode of treatment delivery for palliative dyads and (b) further characterization of successful RSVs and the long-term impact on their own physical, cognitive, and emotional functioning.