Premise: Terminal illness in the home is an experience that brings about deep changes within the family, especially in the caregiver.
Aim: To study abnormal grief occurring 6 months to 2 years after death in caregivers of cancer patients assisted by Vidas. Method: home interviews using a dedicated questionnaire.
Results: Forty caregivers were enrolled in the study, of which 20 received psychological support (Group A) and 20 did not (Group B). They were randomly chosen from the families of Vidas patients who received domiciliary care in 2001-2002. In Group A nine caregivers had individual psychological counselling and eleven caregivers attended a Self-Help group. The two groups were matched for age, sex and family relationships. Of the sample 42.5% managed to resume the role they had abandoned during the illness of their relation. 65% of the total number of caregivers reported that they could not or could only partially bestow the affection that they had previously given to their relation on others. 77.5% said they could not open up to the affection other people showed them and 50% of these said that no one else could ever compensate for the sense of emptiness they had felt since the death of their loved one. Planning for the future was limited in 62.5% of caregivers, and 27.5% of these were pessimistic about the future. The data show that abnormal grief is something one has to be constantly aware of, but which is significantly less felt both qualitatively and quantitively in people who have received psychological support, especially individual help. Post mortem (average): INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT 19.7% SELF HELP GROUP SUPPORT 29.7% NO SUPPORT 44.6%.
Conclusions: Whilst awaiting a more detailed analysis, it is true to say that the introduction of psychological support has a positive effect on coping with bereavement.