Quality of Life among Next of Kin of Frail Older People in Nursing Homes: An Interview Study after an Educational Intervention concerning Palliative Care

Gerd Ahlström, Helena Rosén, Eva I Persson, Gerd Ahlström, Helena Rosén, Eva I Persson

Abstract

One cornerstone of palliative care is improving the family's quality of life (QoL). The principles of palliative care have not been sufficiently applied in nursing homes. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of QoL of next of kin of frail older persons in nursing homes after an educational intervention concerning palliative care. This qualitative interview study with 37 next of kin used an abductive design with deductive and inductive content analysis. The deductive analysis confirmed the three themes of QoL from the study before the implementation: (1) orientation to the new life-situation, (2) challenges in the relationship, and (3) the significance of the quality of care in the nursing home. The inductive analysis resulted in the sub-theme "Unspoken palliative care". Being the next of kin of an older person living in a nursing home can be distressing despite round-the-clock care, so staff need to apply a more explicitly palliative care perspective. Future research needs to evaluate the influence of meaning-focused coping on next of kin's QoL and integrate this knowledge in psychosocial interventions. Clinical Trial Database for Clinical Research: KUPA project NCT02708498.

Keywords: abduction; family members; follow-up study; meaning-focused coping; next of kin; palliative care; qualitative method; quality of life; relative; residential housing.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. None of the funders had any role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, in the writing of the manuscript or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The results regarding stress and emotions from the perspective of meaning-focused coping.

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