Liang Hui-Ju, Xiong Qian, Lin Peng-Chan, Tsai Jui-Hung, Preston Nancy
Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Health Innovation One, Lancaster, UK.
Centre for Ageing Research, Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Palliat Med. 2024 Dec;38(10):1184-1193. doi: 10.1177/02692163241280016. Epub 2024 Sep 27.
Adequate death preparation positively influences families' experience before death and during bereavement. However, how to prepare families in non-Western cultures has received scant attention.
To explore family caregivers' experiences in preparing for a relative's death in specialist palliative care in Taiwan.
A qualitative study employing reflexive thematic analysis of data collected from semi-structured interviews was conducted.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-two family caregivers from seven hospitals participated.
The overarching theme was 'getting everything right to have no regrets between the dead and the living'. We developed two themes to explain preparations for the time surrounding and after the death, including the deceased' afterlife: (1) 'having a good ending but not the end of the relationship', which addresses preparations for the death itself, the funeral, the afterlife and maintaining connections and (2) 'using religious beliefs and cultural norms to guide preparation', which explores perceptions of a good death, including refrain from strong emotions before and after the death.
Funeral arrangements, enhancing the deceased's afterlife and maintaining connections to the deceased are crucial for families' experiences which can be impacted by actions they take as they prepare for the death. A culturally appropriate death is beneficial for the dying relative which includes preparing to not show strong emotions during and after the death. These insights inform the importance of the cultural context in death preparation in Taiwan and provide perspectives for palliative care beyond Western culture, potentially benefiting Chinese populations, predominantly East Asian and Buddhist societies.
充分的死亡准备对家庭在亲人去世前及丧亲期间的经历有积极影响。然而，如何在非西方文化背景下帮助家庭做好准备却很少受到关注。
探讨台湾地区家庭照顾者在专科姑息治疗中为亲人的死亡做准备的经历。
采用对从半结构化访谈中收集的数据进行反思性主题分析的定性研究。
背景/参与者：来自七家医院的22名家庭照顾者参与了研究。
首要主题是“把一切都做好，让生死两无憾”。我们形成了两个主题来解释围绕死亡及死后时期的准备工作，包括逝者的来世：（1）“有个好结局但关系不止”，涉及死亡本身、葬礼、来世以及保持联系的准备工作；（2）“用宗教信仰和文化规范指导准备工作”，探讨对善终的认知，包括在死亡前后避免强烈情绪。
葬礼安排、提升逝者的来世以及与逝者保持联系对家庭的经历至关重要，这些经历可能会受到他们在为死亡做准备时所采取行动的影响。符合文化习俗的死亡对濒死亲人有益，这包括在死亡期间及之后准备好不表现出强烈情绪。这些见解说明了台湾地区死亡准备中文化背景的重要性，并为西方文化之外的姑息治疗提供了视角，可能使以东亚和佛教社会为主的华人受益。
