End-of-life caregiver's perspectives on their role: generative caregiving.
OBJECTIVE
To describe caregivers' constructions of their caregiving role in providing care to elders they knew were dying from life-limiting illnesses.


METHODS
Study involved in-depth interviews with 27 family caregivers. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis.


RESULTS
Four categories were identified: centering life on the elder, maintaining a sense of normalcy, minimizing suffering, and gift giving. Generative caregiving was the term adopted to describe the end-of-life (EOL) caregiving role. Generative caregiving is situated in the present with a goal to enhance the elder's present quality of life, but also draws from the past and projects into the future with a goal to create a legacy that honors the elder and the elder-caregiver relationship.


CONCLUSIONS
Results contribute to our knowledge about EOL caregiving by providing an explanatory framework and setting the caregiving experience in the context of life-span development.
Phillips
Linda R
LR
School of Nursing, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. lrphillips@sonnet.ucla.edu
Reed
Pamela G
PG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012380:Role; D013727:Terminal Care