Quality of life for hospice caregivers

The goal of hospice care is to enhance the quality of life (QOL) of patients and their families during the final stages of illness, the dying process, and the bereavement period. This goal involves using an interdisciplinary approach to attend to patients and families as a "unit of care" and to address the spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, and psychological aspects of living with a terminal illness. Despite efforts, research shows a decrease in the overall quality of life of hospice caregivers after the first 30 days of hospice care, especially in four quality of life domains: physical, financial, emotional, and social domains. The purpose of this study was to examine the following questions: 1) How does the QOL of hospice caregivers change over time? 2) How does a defined intervention affect their QOL? 3) How do different interventions affect the usual trajectory of QOL? 4) How do various aspects of QOL change over time? This poster addresses the first research question