Abstract
Background
The number of people with life-limiting illnesses seems to be increasing in South Asia’s fast-growing population. The diagnosis of a life-limiting condition is often associated with psychosocial stressors, including changes in social relations, financial constraints, limited physical functioning and anxiety about the future and death. Some of the coping strategies that patients employ to address these stressors include support from family members, increased religiosity, and acceptance of their condition.
Aim
To explore how palliative care patients in South Asia cope with the various psychosocial stressors experienced during their ailment.
Design and setting
This is a systematic review of qualitative studies identifying and exploring coping among palliative care patients within community settings in South Asia.
Method
Searches of four electronic databases from inception to May 2022 were carried out. The extracted data included participant demographics, study characteristics and coping strategies employed. Thematic synthesis was performed. This qualitative systematic review was conducted and reported according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist was used to evaluate the quality of the included articles.
Results
Six studies were included in the systematic review. The results showed that palliative care patients often experience loss of independence, financial worries and feelings of loneliness during their illness. The main coping strategies employed included social support from family, faith, and acceptance of their condition.
Conclusion
This systematic review provides a better understanding of various stressors and coping strategies in the context of palliative care in South Asia. This highlights the need for further research to be carried out in this area to better understand patients’ experiences and help develop policies and guidelines. The patient's family and their continuous support are identified as the predominant coping strategies in the context of South Asia. Family members seem to play a vital role in the provision of community or home-based palliative care. They not only provide personal, emotional but also monetary support needed in the terminal phase of life-limiting illness.