Family caregivers play a vital role

Family caregivers play a vital role during the time of illness of a family member. Family caregivers experience various physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns while caring for a family member with a life-threatening illness, especially in a hospice setting. Current literature mainly adds to understanding the physical, psychological, and emotional aspects of family caregiving. Spiritual aspects of family caregiving such as personal values and the meanings that family caregivers ascribe to their caregiving roles often remain unaddressed. While caring for a seriously ill family member receiving palliative care, family caregivers go through multiple transitions, make new resolutions, adjust to changing roles and expectations, and experience grief and other complex caregiving situations where their search for meaning becomes evident. There is an increasing need to explore such experiences of spirituality among family caregivers to support their caregiving actions and practices.