A Scoping Research Literature Review to Identify Contemporary Evidence on the Incidence, Causes, and Impacts of End-of-Life Intra-Family Conflict

ABSTRACT

When someone is terminally ill, it is often a very stressful time for the dying person and their family. It would not be unusual for intra-family conflict, involving one or more family members and even the dying person, to occur. However, this type of conflict has not been identified as an end-of-life issue needing to be noticed and addressed or prevented when possible. This lack of attention could be because it is not known how common or how impactful this type of conflict is. A scoping research literature review was conducted for available 2004–2019 evidence on the incidence or prevalence of intra-family conflict, factors contributing to it or causing it, and the outcomes or impact of it. A search for published peer-review articles identified 18 research reports for a scoping review. The 18 studies, all conducted in developed countries, revealed intra-family conflict is often present; and with a range of harmful effects for the dying person, the family as a whole or individual family members, and other persons and organizations. The identified factors contributing to or predisposing intra-family conflict were grouped into three categories: (a) family disagreements over curative treatment and/or end-of-life care and decisions, (b) previous family conflict and other family dynamic matters, and (c) the dying process itself. The evidence identified through this scoping review, although relatively minimal, should be useful for planning future research and for raising awareness of end-of-life intra-family conflict to improve social services and palliative programs or services.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the researchers and research participants who enabled 18 studies to be completed and published on the topic of intra-family end-of-life conflict. The authors also appreciate the work of palliative care nurses, social workers, psychologists, and many others for their efforts in identifying, managing, diffusing, and preventing intra-family end-of-life conflict.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.