Hospice Caregiver Depression: The Evidence Surrounding the Greatest Pain of All

Abstract

Terminal illness affects the entire family, both the one with the illness and their loved ones. These loved ones must deal not only with the loss but with the challenges of managing daily care. The purpose of the systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature was to identify and explore depression and related interventions for caregivers of hospice patients. While the prevalence of depression reported in the identified studies of hospice caregivers ranges from 26–57%, few interventions specific to this population have been tested and the research methods have been only moderately rigorous.

KEYWORDS:

• hospice
• caregiving
• depression

Acknowledgments

The project described was supported by Award Number R01NR011472 (PI: Parker Oliver) from the National Institute of Nursing Research. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Nursing Research or the National Institutes of Health. The project is registered as a clinical trial record NCT01211340.

Notes

Note. *Follow-up modified from original to reflect time frames identified in the study and percentages changed to reflect high attrition found in hospice studies.