Abstract

Although spirituality can be a source of support during end-of-life and engage a transformative experience after loss, few studies report family members’ spiritual and existential needs considering their experiences over time. We conducted a longitudinal interpretative phenomenological analysis from audio-recorded interviews of 10 family caregivers while providing end-of-life care for cancer patients and during bereavement. Participants’ spirituality experiences were presented in three superordinate themes: connectedness with religious beliefs and the deceased; re-signifying relationships, life, and loss; suffering and the family caregiver’s needs. Finding connection through relationships, greater existential and spiritual suffering post-loss were important issues involved in expressing their spirituality.

摘要

尽管灵性可以成为临终期间的支持来源，并在失去亲人后带来变革性的体验，但很少有研究报告考虑到家庭成员随着时间的推移经历而产生的精神和存在需求。我们对 10 名家庭护理人员在为癌症患者和丧亲期间提供临终关怀时的录音访谈进行了纵向解释现象学分析。参与者的灵性体验以三个最重要的主题呈现：与宗教信仰和死者的联系；重新表示关系、生命和损失；痛苦和家庭照顾者的需要。通过关系寻找联系，失去后更大的生存和精神痛苦是表达他们灵性的重要问题。