Lorraine Holtslander Research

RN, BSN, MN, PhD, CHPCN(c), Professor

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Research

Finding Balance through a Writing Intervention

Family caregivers experience many challenges during the time of bereavement, mainly to do with a lack of support, difficult and overwhelming emotions, and the recovery from the physical and emotional challenges of caregiving. A significant number of bereaved caregivers will experience negative outcomes such as prolonged and complicated grief, depression, and even death.

A self-administered writing intervention called the Finding Balance Intervention (FBI) was developed and tested through research with older adults bereaved after caregiving for a spouse with advanced cancer. A case scenario is presented to illustrate use of the tool in clinical practice.

The FBI is a theory-based, evidence-informed self-administered writing tool that offers many possibilities in clinical practice. If the nurse has an opportunity to provide a bereavement support visit to the family caregiver, it could be offered and then some followup provided as needed. Of course, in cases of complicated grief, the caregiver should be referred for professional support.

The FBI could be used in bereavement support groups to have individuals write and then discuss their writing as a group as they feel comfortable to share. Many family caregivers will have adequate coping skills and supports to manage grief on their own, but others certainly would benefit from an intervention that honors their caregiving journey, assists in balancing difficult emotions and activities, gives an opportunity to grieve and offers ways to find a new purpose after caregiving ends.

Additional Resources

Finding Balance Intervention Poster:

Key messages from a metasummary of qualitative research to honor the voices of bereaved family caregivers

Our Honoring the Voices of Bereaved Caregivers videos can be found at the following links:

  • “Honoring voices after caregiving”
  • “Honoring voices: walking alongside the caregiver”
  • “Caregiving 101: Dick Strayer – His story”
  • “Reinventing a life: Sherrill Miller – Her story”

More Research

Exploring Palliative Care in Corrections: A Scoping Review

Background: Palliative care and the prison setting are diametrically opposed in their objectives.  However, a high portion of those who are incarcerated in today’s prisons are aging, becoming infirm, and/or suffering life threatening diseases. Thus, increasingly, palliative care is a required service in the prison setting.  This scoping review of relevant literature seeks to explore […]

Honoring the voices of bereaved caregivers: A metasynthesis of qualitative research with bereaved caregivers

Issue to be addressed: What is the experience of bereavement for family caregivers after the death of the patient? Many of Canada’s almost 1 million family caregivers will become bereaved each year, as more than 68% of the 238,000 deaths in Canada in 2009 were due to a chronic disease, such as cancer, heart disease and dementia. Family caregivers, […]

About

Lorraine Holtslander PhD

Lorraine Holtslander, PhD. Registered Nurse. Researcher. Professor.
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