ArticlePalliative medicine2025
'Regrets become a lasting source of pain': A qualitative study on family caregivers' experiences leading up to a relative's death.
Article in Palliative medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Experiences of death preparedness among family caregivers of terminal patients: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Willingness to participate in advance care planning among older adults with relatively high educational attainment in a continuing care retirement community of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Methodological reflections to support good practice in using nominal group techniques: Insights from applications in palliative care studies.Palliative medicine · 2025Article
- 'People ring because they're frightened': findings from a realist evaluation on the impact of timely responsive care at home at the end of life.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Patients' and caregivers' experiences of familial and social support in resource-poor settings: A systematically constructed review and meta-synthesis.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Review
- Unfinished Business and Experiences of Bereaved Families of Patients with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Palliative medicine reportsArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDeath preparations can benefit families both before and during bereavement. While these preparations are culturally influenced, evidence from non-Western cultures, like Eastern Asia, is limited.
aimTo explore how family caregivers prepare for a relative's death in Taiwan.
designA qualitative interview study analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. SETTING/
participantsTwenty-two primary family caregivers following a death involving specialist palliative care were interviewed.
resultsAn overarching theme was 'getting everything right to have no regrets between the dead and the living'. Within this, two themes focussed upon improving the dying relative's outcomes and the families' subsequent bereavement: (1) 'making the right end-of-life decisions is crucial but complex', exploring preparations to involve (or not) the dying relative in making choices to minimise regrets. Participants often felt they understood the dying relative's wishes so respected their preferences while maintaining family harmony through consensus-building and professional guidance. (2) 'becoming a competent caregiver is the priority', addressing preparations for fulfilling responsibilities, making sacrifices and developing caregiving competence to ensure the dying relative's comfort. This would help reduce feelings of regret about not having done enough.
conclusionPreparing for end-of-life decisions and caregiving is important for participants to reduce regret, benefiting subsequent bereavement. Of particular importance is family involvement and consensus-building in end-of-life decisions, reflecting Taiwan's family-led culture. These findings can inform clinical practices in family-centric decision-making cultures where healthcare workers should be aware of the need to build consensus, sometimes without involving the dying person. Future research should include patients' and healthcare professionals' perspectives.
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