ArticleBMC palliative care2025
Friends and neighbours as non-kin caregivers of seriously ill patients at the end of life: a scoping review of experiences, individual capacities, support needs and services.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Prevalence and Social Support Networks of Underrepresented Caregivers: Sandwich, Millennial, Non-kin, and Male Caregivers.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe number of older individuals in need of care is projected to increase in the coming years. As support from family members is becoming increasingly limited, often due to geographical distance, non-kin caregivers, such as neighbours, friends, and acquaintances, are assuming an increasingly significant role in providing support. The present scoping review aimed to identify, describe and synthesise existing evidence on the experiences, individual capacities and support needs of informal non-kin caregivers of patients at the end of life, as well as the support services available to them.
methodsThe review followed the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley. A search was conducted in four electronic databases (CINAHL, PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection) on 10 October 2022 using a highly sensitive search strategy, and updated on 8 January 2025. Reference lists of the included studies were also hand-searched.
resultsTwo authors independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of 2,931 articles and screened 128 full texts. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria, and a further three articles were identified through hand searching. The analysis revealed seven overarching themes: (1) the duration and extent of non-kin caregiving, (2) caregiving relationships, (3) enabling care at home, (4) support wishes and needs, (5) modes of support, (6) non-kin caregivers as 'hidden' caregivers and (7) caregiving burden. Notable research gaps were identified, particularly regarding the low visibility of friends and neighbours in informal care, the lack of clear differentiation from family caregivers and the limited access to appropriate support and palliative care services.
conclusionsThe findings showed that informal non-kin caregivers of seriously ill patients at the end of life remain under-recognised, despite the significant responsibilities they undertake. Future research is needed to improve access to tailored support and to distinguish their experiences from those of family caregivers.
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