The Stress of Sadness: The Most Stressful Symptoms for Hospice Family Caregivers

A family member or friend is often a hospice patient's primary caregiver and, as such, may face a significant number of stressors, including challenges related to managing patient symptoms. This study investigated the most stressful patient symptoms as reported by 111 hospice family caregivers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of hospice & palliative medicine 2015-11, Vol.32 (7), p.745-749
Main Authors: Ratkowski, Kristy L., Washington, Karla T., Craig, Kevin W., Albright, David L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cardiovascular Diseases - psychology
Cardiovascular Diseases - therapy
Caregivers - psychology
Family - psychology
Female
Grief
Hospice Care
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms - psychology
Neoplasms - therapy
Nursing
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:A family member or friend is often a hospice patient's primary caregiver and, as such, may face a significant number of stressors, including challenges related to managing patient symptoms. This study investigated the most stressful patient symptoms as reported by 111 hospice family caregivers of cancer (n=66) and cardiopulmonary (n=45) patients. Researchers calculated the mean level of stress caregivers attributed to 32 different patient symptoms commonly encountered at end of life. They found the symptoms perceived as most stressful for caregivers were psychological in nature. Study findings suggest that members of the hospice interdisciplinary team should connect patients and their caregivers to various types of support to address psychological symptoms, benefitting patients and caregivers alike.
ISSN:1049-9091
1938-2715
DOI:10.1177/1049909114540034