Navigera okända vatten: En metaetnografi av anhörigvårdares upplevelser av palliativ vård i hemmet

Sammanfattning: Bakground:  When someone is suffering from incurable disease, life changes both for the person, but also for the relatives. More and more get cared for in the home and relatives becomes more involved in care today. Knowledge of the relatives' experiences of palliative care at home is therefore of importance to the district nurse in the home healthcare system to get further aspects of how care can be improved, hence the present thesis work is important. Aims: The purpose of this meta-synthesis was to get a better understanding of the family caregiver’s experiences of palliative care at home, by integrating qualitative international research.  Method: The method used was Noblit and Hares meta-ethnography and 16 qualitative articles were analyzed and synthesized.  Resultat: The family caregiver’s experiences of palliative care at home represented three themes: living with the dying, caring for the dying and interacting with the professional care. The result shows that the experience of caring for a dying relative at home can feel rewarding but at the same time be very stressful both mentally and physically. Caring for a dying relative at home changes life and relationships. The family caregivers’ role as caregiver was a major responsibility and limited their own lives. This responsibility required help from professional caregivers through support and information.  Conclusions: The present master thesis provides a better understanding of the needs of family caregivers, which may facilitate for healthcare professionals in the encounter with these persons and may also motivate to apply a family-focused approach.