Gardiner, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-1785-7054, Taylor, B., Goodwin, H. et al. (2 more authors) (2022) Employment and family caregiving in palliative care : an international qualitative study. Palliative Medicine, 36 (6). pp. 986-993. ISSN 0269-2163
Abstract
Background:
Family caregivers provide the majority of palliative care. The impact of family caregiving on employment and finances has received little research attention in the field of palliative care.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to explore perspectives and experiences of combining paid employment with palliative care family caregiving, and to assess the availability and suitability of employment support across three countries – the United Kingdom (UK), Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada.
Design:
A qualitative descriptive study design was used. Semi-structured interviews were held with 30 key informants with professional or personal experience in palliative care from the UK (n = 15), Aotearoa New Zealand (n = 6) and Canada (n = 9). Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the principles of thematic analysis.
Results:
Four main themes were identified: (1) significant changes to working practices are required to enable end of life family carers to remain in work; (2) the negative consequences of combining caregiving and employment are significant, for both patient and carer; (3) employer support for working end of life caregivers is crucial but variable and; (4) national, federal and government benefits for working end of life family carers are necessary.
Conclusion:
Supporting carers to retain employment whilst providing care has potential benefits for the patient at end of life, the caregiver, and the wider economy and labour market. Employers, policymakers and governments have a role to play in developing and implementing policies to support working carers to remain in employment.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Palliative Medicine. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Behavioral and Social Science; 7.2 End of life care; Generic health relevance; 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jun 2022 08:48 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jun 2022 08:48 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/02692163221089134 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:188003 |
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