TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of early palliative care on the quality of life in caregivers of cancer patients
T2 - A systematic review
AU - Agustina, Rismia
AU - Ispriantari, Aloysia
AU - Konlan, Kennedy Diema
AU - Lin, Mei Feng
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is supported by the Indonesia Endowment Funds for Education and the Center for Education Financial Services.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Sigma Theta Tau International.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Background: Maintaining caregivers' quality of life (QoL) is critical to sustaining the care needed for cancer patients. One of the interventions applied to cancer patients' caregivers is early palliative care (EPC). Aims: This systematic review synthesized the implementation of EPC on the QoL of caregivers of cancer patients. Methods: The search was undertaken using seven electronic databases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertation & Theses (PQDT). The search strategy integrated relevant terms of early palliative care, caregivers, cancer, and quality of life and was conducted until March 14, 2022. The thematic data analysis approach was used to integrate the results. Results: Using advanced search features, 4193 studies were obtained on the initial search. After screening and quality assessment, eight studies were included. Eight studies depicted that EPC interventions were delivered for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer, that is, those with a life expectancy of at least 4–24 months or considered intermediate to poor prognosis. One study provided the intervention for caregivers of patients newly diagnosed with cancer. None of the studies had the same protocol or content in delivering EPC for caregivers. Four studies gave similar details on addressing the strategies for caregivers in several aspects, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. There was no difference in the QoL between caregivers with cancer patients who received EPC compared with usual care. EPC was noted to influence other factors, such as caregivers' psychological distress and burden. Linking evidence to action: The data on EPC interventions portray no beneficial effects on the QoL of caregivers with cancer patients. Further studies on developing standard protocols of EPC, multidisciplinary team, and how early it should be given to caregivers are strongly recommended.
AB - Background: Maintaining caregivers' quality of life (QoL) is critical to sustaining the care needed for cancer patients. One of the interventions applied to cancer patients' caregivers is early palliative care (EPC). Aims: This systematic review synthesized the implementation of EPC on the QoL of caregivers of cancer patients. Methods: The search was undertaken using seven electronic databases: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertation & Theses (PQDT). The search strategy integrated relevant terms of early palliative care, caregivers, cancer, and quality of life and was conducted until March 14, 2022. The thematic data analysis approach was used to integrate the results. Results: Using advanced search features, 4193 studies were obtained on the initial search. After screening and quality assessment, eight studies were included. Eight studies depicted that EPC interventions were delivered for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer, that is, those with a life expectancy of at least 4–24 months or considered intermediate to poor prognosis. One study provided the intervention for caregivers of patients newly diagnosed with cancer. None of the studies had the same protocol or content in delivering EPC for caregivers. Four studies gave similar details on addressing the strategies for caregivers in several aspects, including physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. There was no difference in the QoL between caregivers with cancer patients who received EPC compared with usual care. EPC was noted to influence other factors, such as caregivers' psychological distress and burden. Linking evidence to action: The data on EPC interventions portray no beneficial effects on the QoL of caregivers with cancer patients. Further studies on developing standard protocols of EPC, multidisciplinary team, and how early it should be given to caregivers are strongly recommended.
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U2 - 10.1111/wvn.12629
DO - 10.1111/wvn.12629
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36637053
AN - SCOPUS:85146328747
SN - 1545-102X
VL - 20
SP - 178
EP - 190
JO - Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing
JF - Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing
IS - 3
ER -
