Health-promoting conversations about hope and suffering with couples in palliative care.
BACKGROUND
Families living with a dying relative face existential challenges which need to be met by caregivers in a dialogue.


OBJECTIVE
To describe couples' experiences of participating in nurse-initiated health-promoting conversations about hope and suffering during home-based palliative care.


METHODS
Data comprised semi-structured evaluative interviews with six couples. Each couple together had previously participated in three health-fostering conversations with nurses. Data were analyzed by content.


RESULTS
Talking with nurses about existential issues such as hope and suffering made couples feel that they were part of a trustful relationship, and that it was a healing experience. It gave them the opportunity to unburden themselves, as well as a way of learning and finding new strategies for managing daily life.


CONCLUSIONS
Health-promoting conversations about hope and suffering should be implemented as a natural part of the caring relationship between caregivers and families in the palliative context.
Benzein
Eva Gunilla
EG
School of Human Sciences, Kalmar University, Kalmar, Sweden. eva.benzein@hik.se
Saveman
Britt-Inger
BI
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care; D013315:Stress, Psychological