Background 

The integration of holistic and effective end-of-life (EOL) care into cancer management has increasingly become a recognized field. People living with terminal cancer and their caregivers face a unique set of emotional, spiritual, and social stressors, which may be managed by psychosocial interventions.

Objectives 

This study aimed to explore the types and characteristics of psychosocial interventions at the EOL for adult cancer patients and their caregivers and to identify gaps in the current literature.

Methods 

A systematic search was conducted through MEDLINE (Ovid) and CINAHL from January 1, 2011, to January 31, 2021, retrieving 2453 results. A final 15 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria, reviewed by 2 independent reviewers. Ten percent of the original articles were cross-checked against study eligibility at every stage by 2 experienced researchers.

Results 

Most interventions reported were psychotherapies, with a predominance of meaning or legacy-related psychotherapies. Most interventions were brief, with significant caregiver involvement. Most studies were conducted in high-income, English-speaking populations.

Conclusion 

There is robust, although heterogeneous, literature on a range of psychosocial interventions at the EOL. However, inconsistencies in the terminology used surrounding EOL and means of outcome assessment made the comparison of interventions challenging.

Implication for Practice 

Future studies will benefit from increased standardization of study design, EOL terminology, and outcome assessment to allow for a better comparison of intervention efficacy. There is a need for increased research in psychosocial interventions among middle- to low-income populations exploring social aspects, intimacy, and the impact of COVID-19.

中文翻译：

---

临终时的心理社会干预：范围界定审查

背景 

将全面有效的临终 (EOL) 护理融入癌症管理已日益成为一个公认的领域。癌症晚期患者及其护理人员面临着一系列独特的情感、精神和社会压力，这些压力可以通过社会心理干预来控制。

目标 

本研究旨在探讨成年癌症患者及其护理人员临终前心理社会干预的类型和特征，并找出当前文献中的差距。

方法 

从2011年1月1日到2021年1月31日，通过MEDLINE（Ovid）和CINAHL进行了系统检索，检索到2453条结果。最终 15 篇文章符合纳入标准，并由 2 名独立评审员进行评审。百分之十的原始文章在每个阶段都由 2 位经验丰富的研究人员与研究资格进行交叉检查。

结果 

报告的大多数干预措施都是心理治疗，其中以意义或遗产相关的心理治疗为主。大多数干预措施都很简短，护理人员也大量参与。大多数研究是在高收入、英语人群中进行的。

结论 

关于EOL 期间的一系列心理社会干预措施，有大量尽管异质性的文献。然而，EOL 和结果评估方法所使用的术语不一致，使得干预措施的比较具有挑战性。

对实践的启示 

未来的研究将受益于研究设计、EOL 术语和结果评估的标准化程度的提高，以便更好地比较干预效果。需要加强对中低收入人群的心理社会干预研究，探索社会方面、亲密关系和 COVID-19 的影响。