Erfarenheter vid planering av vård i livets slutskede : En allmän litteraturöversikt ur ett anhörigperspektiv

Sammanfattning

Background: End-of-life care meant seeing patients as a whole person where integrity and autonomy were considered. Good communication, documentation and information to both patients and relatives was considered essential. It was also important that healthcare professionals provided support to both patients and their relatives during a difficult time such as the end of life. Aim: The purpose was to describe how relatives experience the planning of end-of-life care. Method: A general literature review in which nine qualitative studies, one quantitative study and two mixed articles were used. Results: Three categories emerged in the thesis; the importance of communication, to make decisions in end-of-life care and to listen to relatives' wishes in end-of-life care. Good communication reduces unnecessary suffering in both close and family members. The second category described how difficult decisions may have to be made by relatives, which points to the importance of being able to participate in end-of-life care. This was based on the decisions relatives made based on patients' wishes at the end of life. Conclusion: Good communication was important for relatives who wanted to be involved in the end of life. There were also fears and concerns among relatives.