Ambiguous loss in family caregivers of loved ones with cancer, a synthesis of qualitative studies

Weiss, Charlotte R; Baker, Christina; Gillespie, Anne Marie; Jones, Jacqueline

doi:10.1007/s11764-022-01286-w

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…They particularly stated that their first emotion was fear and the reason was the lack of knowledge about palliative care, whereas another reason was the possibility of losing their loved ones, resulting in sadness, helplessness, and uncertainty. Fear of losing a loved one is a common feeling among caregivers of terminally ill patients 22,23 . Patient relatives saw that the care here was provided more professionally and consciously and then concluded that the best solution for their patients was to stay in the palliative care unit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fear of losing a loved one is a common feeling among caregivers of terminally ill patients. 22,23 Patient relatives saw that the care here was provided more professionally and consciously and then concluded that the best solution for their patients was to stay in the palliative care unit. Many patient relatives reported that they heard the term palliative care for the first time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Family Members in the Palliative Phases of Their Loved Ones

Yardimci Gürel,

Mert

2024

J Hosp Palliat Nurs

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Because of aging and rising rates of chronic diseases, the demand for palliative care services is increasing worldwide, and patients need family members to care for them throughout the palliative care process. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of the relatives of palliative care patients during hospitalization. This was a qualitative study conducted with 15 family members. A topic guide was used to conduct semistructured face-to-face interviews. Content analysis was used to analyze the textual data. As a result of the analysis, 3 main themes, 6 categories, and 24 subcategories emerged. The main themes were “reactions to the admission,” “feeling obligated to care,” and “coping processes.” The interviews revealed that most participants had misconceptions and a lack of knowledge about palliative care. Almost all of the family members expressed that they experienced various emotions during this process and had trouble coping. The significant finding of our study is that culture and religious beliefs have a considerable influence on caregiving. A limited number of studies in the literature provide detailed insight into the state of patient relatives. Therefore, this study is critical in guiding palliative care professionals in understanding the requirements of this vulnerable group.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Family Members in the Palliative Phases of Their Loved Ones

Yardimci Gürel,

Mert

2024

J Hosp Palliat Nurs

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Qualitative evaluation of the life experiences of spouses of prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy

Ciydem,

Sinmaz

2023

Support Care Cancer

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Unambiguous definition of ambiguous loss: Exploring conceptual boundaries of physical and psychological types through content analysis

Zasiekina,

Abraham,

Zasiekin

2023

East Eur. j. psycholinguist

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The article aims to extend our understanding of physical and psychological types of ambiguous loss through a systematic review based on content and psycholinguistic analysis. The study encompassed articles aligned with ambiguous loss published between 2019-2023, retrieved from PsycINFO, Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus. To eliminate the bias in the literature review, the study extracted published articles, dissertations, book chapters, and preprints with titles containing the search term “ambiguous loss”. Two reviewers (the first and the third authors worked independently) examined titles and abstracts and identified papers highlighting physical (n=34) or psychological (n=23) types of ambiguous loss. The physical type results from physical absence of meaningful persons (e.g. abducted, missing, adopted), while the psychological type results from psychological absence of meaningful persons (e.g. dementia, mental illness, addiction). The study applies the conceptual and relational content analysis of Leximancer (version 4.5) to develop three cluster maps and lists of concepts separately for physical and psychological types and all selected papers published between 2019-2023. The results show that the physical type primarily encompasses situations related to adoption, potentially leading to the ambiguous loss experienced by both biological parents and children when facing forced separation. Psychological type includes parents of children with disabilities, shaken baby syndrome, and caregivers of individuals with brain injuries and cancer. The present study indicates that the conceptual boundaries between physical and psychological types of ambiguous loss are not only expanding but also erasing, giving way to new applications in settings such as the COVID-19 pandemic, organ donor families, and sexual and gender minority.

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Ambiguous loss in family caregivers of loved ones with cancer, a synthesis of qualitative studies

Cited by 3 publications

References 41 publications

Understanding Family Members in the Palliative Phases of Their Loved Ones

Understanding Family Members in the Palliative Phases of Their Loved Ones

Qualitative evaluation of the life experiences of spouses of prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy

Unambiguous definition of ambiguous loss: Exploring conceptual boundaries of physical and psychological types through content analysis

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