title: Providing palliative and end-of-life care in the community: the role of the home-care worker.
abstract: Home-care workers play a vital role in enabling patients to be cared for in their own homes; however, there is a lack of research on their role. The aim of this study was to explore the role of home-care workers in palliative and end-of-life care in the community. A mixed methods approach was used with two key phases. Phase one comprised a cross-sectional survey to home-care workers and phase two involved a focus group with community nurses. It was found that home-care workers considered palliative and end-of-life care as an important part of their role, and that while it was more stressful than routine work, it was nevertheless very rewarding. While the home-care workers demonstrated that their role incorporated a genuine caring dimension, they identified the need for additional support in the provision of end-of-life care, specifically during out-of-hours. Various restricting factors such as training deficits, need for support and supervision and communication issues were also identified.
authors.affiliation: Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Diamond Medical Centre, Magherafelt, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McIlfatrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D018576:Home Health Aides / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D024382:Professional Role; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom; D000078329:Workforce