Enhancing Bereavement Experiences for Family Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Pilot Intervention Study

Background: Although hospice care is associated with better bereavement outcomes, the duration of hospice care at the end of life remains very short. Objective: The aim was to assess the feasibility of the study methods and to measure the impact of a novel brief intervention on bereaved family caregivers' satisfaction and their psychological distress and psychological burden in nurses. Method: Family caregivers of patients with cancer in an inpatient hospice were recruited. Participants provided information about the patient's personality and photographs of the patient before the illness. Researchers used this information to create a self-introduction sheet and placed it in the patient's room. Family caregivers were asked to complete pre- and post-intervention measures of satisfaction, depression, and grief. Nurse satisfaction was also assessed. Results: Twenty-one participants received the intervention. Sixteen participants completed the postbereavement assessments. At three months postbereavement, 100% of bereaved caregivers "absolutely agreed" or "agreed" with the subdomain "I was satisfied with the sheet." More than 76% of them "absolutely agreed" or "agreed" with other subdomains. The average score of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 showed a significant decrease between pre- and post-intervention (7.2 vs. 4.4, p = 0.014). More than 80% of the nurses rated "absolutely agree" or "agree" with all subdomains of the satisfaction scale. Conclusions: The results suggest that our approach can be acceptable. Further research is needed to facilitate implementation and to compare the impact on caregiver psychological distress with a control group.