title: Family members' caregiving situations in palliative home care when sitting service is received: The understanding of multiple realities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To deepen the understanding of the variation of complexity in family members' caregiving situations, when the private home is the place for care, dying, and sitting service.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven relatives to a deceased family member from four different families were interviewed twice. Data were analyzed by direct interpretation and categorical aggregation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Various patterns of becoming a caregiver were showed, but family members' willingness to become family caregivers was strongly related to fulfilling the dying persons' wishes to be cared for in their own homes. Important factors for coping with the caregiving situation were their needs of support, the possibility to prepare for death related to a need of communication and planning, the length and predictability of the illness trajectory, and experiences of losses and grief. Sitting service was experienced as supportive for family caregivers when they had possibility to hand over care responsibilities, but as non-supportive when expected help not was received.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Family members' experiences of caregiving and their degree of vulnerability must be different, depending on whether it is a self-selected position or an imposed task. In general, family members in this study were willing to participate in caregiving for end-of life care, but subject to their own conditions. One way to decrease vulnerability is to assess the resources and competence in relation to the responsibility the person is expected to assume. The support and other efforts to help family caregivers must be related to their specific needs and reality, not only to what the care organization can offer as a standard solution.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Sciences,Linneaus University,Kalmar,Sweden.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wallerstedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Gjøvik, University College, Gjøvik, Norway and Department of Palliative Care Research,Ersta Sköndal University College,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Andershed
authors.affiliation: School of Human Sciences,Linneaus University,Kalmar,Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Benzein
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Caregiving situations; Family members; Multiple realities; Palliative home care; Sitting service