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Dying well at home usually requires the help and assistance of an informal caregiver. This role is usually unpaid, wide-ranging and oftentimes demanding. From diagnosis to death of a loved one, informal caregivers can experience one and frequently numerous transitions, however, little is known about this process. The purpose of this scoping review is to chart, explore and understand caregivers' experiences of transitioning when providing end-of-life care. A preliminary search of the literature indicated a paucity of research highlighting a notable absence of caregiver's perspectives and acknowledgements of the support they need to ensure successful transitions during this time. Consequently, this review has the potential to make a valuable contribution to the literature.
Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework, further enhanced by Levac et al. (2010) and Peters et al. (2020) was used to conduct this scoping review. The Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guided reporting. A systematic search of the databases PUBMED, PsychINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Web of Science and a selection of grey literature was undertaken from the year 1990 to date by two researchers. Titles and abstracts of the literature identified were screened and finally, a narrative synthesis of 11 articles was undertaken to answer the following research question: What is known from the literature about informal caregivers' transitions when caring for a dying person in the home?
Current knowledge on this topic is limited; however, from this review, two main themes were identified: ‘Challenges arising during transitioning’ with subthemes of burden of care and fading away. The second theme ‘Coping strategies’ comprised subthemes of meaning-making, seeking normality and hope. This evidence may support the development of transitional care interventions in the future and improve patient and caregiver outcome measures and experiences to inform a larger research study exploring this phenomenon.
N/A as this is a Scoping Review.
An understanding of the experiences of transitioning when caring for a loved one dying at home could help mitigate challenges informal caregivers face when providing end-of-life care in the home. While informal caregivers are crucial to support people who want to die at home, the role is often invisible and family carers need support and recognition to reduce the burden of care and challenges they experience as they transition in their role.
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