Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42403529›Full record

ArticlePalliative care and social practice2026

Paid homecare worker support for people living with motor neurone disease: A secondary analysis of people living with motor neurone disease and family member perspectives.

Eleanor Wilson, Nicola Turner, Geraldine Macdonald, Christina Faull

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative care and social practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Eleanor WilsonSchool of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0419-5901
Nicola TurnerSchool of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK.
Geraldine MacdonaldUniversity of Bristol, UK.
Christina FaullDorothy House Hospice Care, Winsley, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: People living with motor neurone disease (MND) increasingly receive complex, life-sustaining interventions at home, including ventilation, tube feeding, and cough assist support. These demands place substantial strain on family carers and often require input from paid homecare workers. Despite their essential role, little is known about how homecare workers contribute to complex MND care, how they integrate within multidisciplinary teams, or how families experience their involvement. Objectives: To examine people living with MND and family members' perspectives of homecare worker roles, responsibilities, relationships when complex interventions are required. Design: A qualitative secondary analysis of data from two prior studies exploring home ventilation and tracheostomy ventilation in MND. Methods: Seven relevant NVivo nodes and 33 sub-nodes from interviews with 68 participants were re-coded using a deductive framework. Fourteen new nodes and 11 sub-nodes were generated and organised into three themes: care commissioning and provision; relationships; and the home environment. Results: Participants described fragmented and inconsistent care commissioning, requiring families to advocate persistently for adequate support. Challenges included funding barriers, high staff turnover, and limited MND-specific knowledge, which undermined trust and compromised safe, effective care. Relationships with homecare workers ranged from highly valued, stable partnerships to strained interactions shaped by competence concerns, emotional labour, and mismatched expectations. The presence of homecare workers and medical equipment transformed the home into a quasi-clinical space, reducing privacy, disrupting routines, and requiring households to adapt around care provision. Yet strong relationships with homecare workers could enhance quality of life. Conclusion: Homecare workers play a critical role in delivering complex home-based MND care, yet quality is inconsistent. Improving training, stabilising staffing, supporting care coordination, and preparing families for the relational and environmental impact of homecare are essential for fostering sustainable, trusted care relationships, and improving outcomes for people living with MND and their families.

Indexed as

emotional labourfamily perspectiveshomecare workersmotor neurone disease (MND/ALS)patient perspectivesqualitativesecondary analysistrust

Identifiers

PMID42403529
PMCPMC13333050

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.