2Department of Public Health Nursing, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir-Turkey DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2016.1457 OBJECTIVE
The aim of this descriptive study was to determine challenges experienced by and quality of life of relatives of cancer patients requiring palliative care at home.
METHODS
This research was conducted with the relatives of patients hospitalized in the palliative care service. Data
collection tools used in the study were the "Questionnaire to Assess Challenges of Home Care Providers"
and the "Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer Scale" (CQOLC).
RESULTS
Mean age of the caregivers was 44.4}13.2. Of them, 50% were women. Of the women, 61.7% were
housewives. Of all caregivers, 75% had difficulty fulfilling their responsibilities, 53.3% experienced
problems in maintaining family relationships, 96.7% did not utilize home care services, and 43% did not
receive information about home care. The caregivers also had trouble managing the following issues:
pain (80%), nausea/vomiting (70%), defecation (56.7%), and mobility (35%). Mean CQOLC score of the
caregivers was 49.7. Mean score on subscales of the CQOLC was 21.58 on the burden subscale, 39.7 on
the disruptiveness subscale, 57.7 on the financial concern subscale, and 116.1 on the positive adaptation
subscale. Respondents" quality of life was generally low.
CONCLUSION
Palliative care team should be aware of the needs of caregivers and provide support. Expanding the
scope and content of palliative and home healthcare services, improving the quality of these services,
and organizing well-educated teams in this branch will better meet the needs of patients and their caregivers
and promote their quality of life.