HOSPICE FAMILY MEMBERS’ DESCRIPTIONS OF THE STRESSORS EXPERIENCED WITH FAMILY MEMBERS TERMINAL ILLNESSES AT HOME

Informal caregivers play a fundamental role in the implementation of palliative care at home. While they provide care voluntarily, they face significant challenges in caring for terminally ill family members. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges faced by informal caregivers in palliative care, and in turn determine how they can be assisted in providing better care to their loved ones. As palliative care is increasingly used for cancer patients, research focusing on improvements to palliative care is crucial in assisting policy makers to better support caregivers. In order to describe stressors that affect caregivers who take care of the terminally ill, the research employed two theoretical concepts: Neuman's model and social interaction theory. Research was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 10 informal caregivers. The key findings of the study were as follows: (a) many participants faced stress throughout the stages of terminal illness, (b) the interviews showed that the relative's needs appeared to be prioritized by caregivers and finally, (c.) while many terminally ill patients make their own choice to proceed with in-home care, a certain amount of organization and procedural consideration needs to be maintained in order to provide quality care.