Grieving Relatives' Perception of Their Needs and Adjustment in a Continuing Care Unit

Abstract

Forty relatives of cancer patients who had been admitted to the Roxburghe House Continuing Care Unit, Aberdeen, Scotland, were studied in order to find out their needs — emotional, practical and the need for information or instruction — and how these needs were associated with their adjustment to the imminent loss of a loved one. A questionnaire on the services typically offered by terminal care staff was developed in order to assess the frequency and nature of support by hospice staff and the extent to which these services were meeting the needs of family members. Of the care services studied, those meeting the emotional needs of the relatives were the most sought after and the most utilized at the unit. In addition, the results indicated that although the unit staff seemed to be responding to those relatives who were distressed, staff support did not appear to alleviate the distress of family members. Nevertheless, those relatives who did not receive support but had desired it seemed highly anxious and distressed. The necessity of a routinely administered checklist on the needs of relatives of patients in a terminal care centre is indicated from this study.