Caregiving and grieving during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study of lived experience, palliative care and bereaved caregivers
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Date
2023-08-08
Authors
Fukumoto, Salina
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Abstract
Caregivers play integral roles in providing care and support to individuals who are facing end of life. It’s imperative that health care professionals working in palliative care understand their lived experiences in order to provide appropriate support and address their needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people globally and changed the ways in which people provide and receive care. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of bereaved caregivers who provided care to a loved who was at the end of their life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with five bereaved caregivers. Thematic analysis was completed to analyze the data and five key themes were identified. 1) Impact of caregiving and the implications of public health orders, 2) interrupted grief and commemoration during a pandemic, 3) challenges with the health care system, 4) people make the difference, and 5) recommendations through reflections. Sub-themes within each key theme were identified. A detailed review of the findings, a discussion and recommendations are presented after a thorough review of the literature and discussion of the methodology and methods which informed this phenomenological study.
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Keywords
palliative care, bereaved caregivers, pandemic, lived experience, COVID-19