References
Barriers and facilitators to implementing the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool in a community palliative care setting
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Family carers play a central role in community-based palliative care. However, caring for a terminally ill person puts the carer at increased risk of physical and mental morbidity. The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) enables comprehensive assessment of carer support needs. The present study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing the CSNAT in a community specialist palliative care service. Semi-structured interviews with 12 palliative care nurse specialists from two community nursing teams in Lothian, Scotland, June 2017. Data was audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed. Palliative care nurse specialists acknowledge the importance of carers in palliative care and encourage carer support practices. Nurses perceived the CSNAT as useful, but used it as an ‘add-on’ to current practice, rather than as a new approach to carer-led assessment. Further training is recommended to ensure community palliative care nurses are familiar with the broader CSNAT approach.
For many people with a terminal illness, home is their preferred place of care (Gomes et al, 2013). To enable this, informal carers, particularly family members and friends, need to provide physical, emotional and practical support to the terminally ill person (Epiphaniou et al, 2012). Such support can include practical assistance with activities of daily living, including personal care, household tasks, financial assistance and social and emotional support (Rowland et al, 2017). Caring is associated with increased risk of physical and mental morbidity (Williams and McCorkle, 2011). In a palliative care context, the demands of the caring role can become all-encompassing. Support for carers can be limited, as carers do not recognise themselves as carers and often feel their needs are not legitimate in comparison to those of the person being cared for (Carduff et al, 2014). To ensure that the wellbeing of carers is maintained and to enable them to care for the terminally ill person, it is important that their needs are assessed (Ewing et al, 2018).
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Community Nursing and reading some of our peer-reviewed resources for district and community nurses. To read more, please register today. You’ll enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Limited access to clinical or professional articles
-
New content and clinical newsletter updates each month