Perspectives of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer: a qualitative study in mainland China.
BMC Palliat Care
; 23(1): 16, 2024 Jan 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38212798
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Despite being driven by a strong sense of duty and familial obligation, providing care for patients nearing the end of life poses challenges for family caregivers. Telemedicine has rapidly gained traction as a transformative approach to healthcare delivery, offering an array of benefits that could be particularly valuable in end-of-life care. However, research on the perspectives of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer is limited. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perspectives and preferences of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer and provide a framework for developing and executing a tailored telemedicine-based end-of-life care program that addresses the unique needs of family caregivers in mainland China.METHOD:
A descriptive phenomenological approach was used. Family caregivers were selected using purposive sampling at a tertiary cancer hospital. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants from November to December 2022. Colaizz's method was used to analyze the interviews.RESULTS:
Fourteen participants participated in interviews. Three themes and ten subthemes were identified motivation to receive telemedicine services (relief from the burden of home care; access to professional health care services), supportive care needs for telemedicine services (support for symptom management; negative emotional adjustment; death education; daily life care guidance), and functional expectations of telemedicine service platforms (ease of use; real-time online guidance and response; personalized automatic reminder; targeted matching push of health knowledge).CONCLUSION:
Family caregivers expressed interest in telemedicine-based services and identified various care needs before receiving telemedicine services. The findings of this study can help policymakers and healthcare providers develop more effective and culturally appropriate telemedicine-based service programs that can better support family caregivers of end-of-life cancer patients.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
Neoplasias
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Palliat Care
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China