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Abstract

Palliative care refers to the treatment and support provided to people suffering from severe, progressive, or incurable illnesses. Recent data indicates it is provided to less than half of those dying in the United Kingdom and existing estimates imply many more could benefit (Petersdorff et al, 2021). The number of service users receiving palliative care services is anticipated to rise, and palliative care social workers can use their skills and experience to assist people in coping with the effects of their illness, by supporting them to access and understand relevant information, make decisions, plan for their future, and achieve what matters most to them (Association of Palliative Care Social Workers, 2016).
This literature review conducted a rigorous search to find research papers, exploring the experiences of informal carers caring for an adult in palliative care at home. Nine papers were found, and through conducting a thematic analysis, five themes emerged: carers’ social isolation, carer burden, carers’ informational needs, carers’ financial constraints and carers’ needs when preparing for death. The findings from these papers were combined with wider literature to discuss their contribution to evidence-based practice and how they can inform the social work role and the support social workers offer.

Course: Social Work - MSc - C2081F

Date Deposited: 2022-11-14

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14073.html