Family caregiving to hospitalized end-of-life and acutely ill geriatric patients

The article examines family caregiving to hospitalized older adults at the end of life (EOL). The stress process model was used to compare family caregiving in an EOL patient population (n = 50) with family caregiving in an acutely ill elderly population (n = 50) in a single Israeli hospital. A convenience sample of family caregivers was interviewed in the hospital using a structured questionnaire. Differences between the two groups were examined using contingency tables, t tests, and discriminant multivariate analysis. Findings show that family caregivers of EOL patients carry out fewer caregiving tasks and report a greater sense of overload and captivity. On the other hand, they attend to the patient for more days, mobilize more social network support, and report a comparable sense of reward and growth. These findings are discussed in the context of active versus passive caregiving and the significance of nursing support for family caregivers of EOL patients.