Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2006
Grief support provided to caregivers of palliative care patients in Spain.
Grief support for relatives of patients in palliative care is recognized as a fundamental practice within palliative medicine. The aim of this research was to determine the nature and extent of grief support programs offered to relatives of patients in palliative care in Spain. A postal survey was carried out among members of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care. ⋯ Results show that 88.6% of the services include grief support, that mainly emotional and one-to-one care is provided (92.4 and 89.9%, respectively), and that the number of psychologists and social workers in each team is limited. The risk factors most commonly taken into account by professionals are: absence of family support (36.92%) and the bereaved's case history (21.54%); while the most widely used diagnostic criteria for complicated bereavement are blame and depression (12.5 and 11.36%). In conclusion, it can be seen that bereavement services are not completely consolidated in Spain and there is a need for a greater variety of intervention strategies.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2006
End-of-life care in community hospitals: the perceptions of bereaved family members.
The perceptions of bereaved family members were obtained to evaluate the nature and quality of end-of-life care in community hospitals. ⋯ The results of this study have implications for UK government initiatives, such as the National Framework for Older People, and the Department of Health's 'Keeping the NHS Local'.