Caregiver Support Strategies in Palliative Care

In palliative care, family and informal caregivers assume complex duties ranging from symptom management to emotional support as patients approach the end of life. This role often entails significant physical, psychological and social burden. Research has identified a suite of support strategies to bolster caregivers’ capacity and well-being. Educational interventions delivered by nursing professionals can improve knowledge of pain management and medication administration, while online psychological programmes address emotional distress and foster peer connection. Structured respite services grant caregivers vital breaks to mitigate burnout. Psychosocial approaches, including social support mapping and conflict-resolution frameworks, enhance self-efficacy and resilience. Technological advances such as telehealth consultations and e-learning platforms extend access to tailored resources across geographic and cultural contexts. Culturally competent materials and systematic needs assessments are essential to identify unperceived knowledge gaps, particularly in diverse populations. Collectively, these strategies aim to reduce burden, strengthen coping mechanisms and improve quality of care for both caregivers and patients on a global scale.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Caregiver Support Strategies in Palliative Care publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in caregiver support strategies in palliative care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Palliative care: Specialised medical and supportive care for patients with serious, life-limiting illness, focused on relief of symptoms and improving quality of life.

Caregiver burden: The multidimensional strain experienced by individuals who provide unpaid care, encompassing physical, emotional and social impacts.

Self-efficacy: An individual’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviours necessary to manage specific challenges or tasks.

Respite care: Temporary relief services that allow caregivers to rest by entrusting patient care to trained professionals or volunteers.

Telehealth: The use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care and education.

References

1. Self-efficacy and well-being in the association between caregiver burden and sleep quality among caregivers of elderly patients having multiple chronic conditions in rural China: a serial multiple mediation analysis. BMC Nursing (2023).
2. Hospice Caregivers’ Perception of Family and Non-Family Social Support and Stress over Time: Associations with Reports of General Support. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2023).
3. Caring the caregivers. An online psychological intervention for family caregivers of oncological palliative patients. Psicooncología (2024).
4. Pain Management Education for Rural Hospice Family Caregivers: A Pilot Study With Embedded Implementation Evaluation. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® (2023).
5. Transforming a Negotiation Framework to Resolve Conflicts among Older Adults and Family Caregivers. Geriatrics (2023).
6. Developing education materials for caregivers of culturally and linguistically diverse patients: Insights from a qualitative analysis of caregivers' needs, access and understanding of information. Health Expectations (2019).