2024/11/28 by Gillian Mhairi Findlay, Noelle Robertson
Health Professions · Medicine · Psychology · #Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
paper · doi:10.1177/00302228241302431
crossref issued 2024/11/28 · crossref published 2024/11/28 · crossref published-online 2024/11/28 · openalex publication_date 2024/11/28 · crossref created 2024/11/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/05/01 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Background: Home care workers (HCWs) may frequently experience client death. This critical interpretive meta-synthesis aimed to identify the impacts of client death to offer preliminary recommendations with respect to support. Method: Five electronic databases, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus, were searched systematically using keywords and subject headings. Results: Eight papers focusing on HCWs’ experiences of client death were identified. Constructs were elicited and interpreted via Reciprocal Translation Analysis. The interpreted line of argument highlighted four interrelated themes: ‘‘Personal grief: The impact of loss’, ‘Disenfranchised grief: no space for humanity and connection’', Inherent tension between self-care and organisational expectations: “You need a moment to hit the reset”, and ‘I wish someone was there to talk to: HCW support needs’. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that HCWs are affected in multiple ways by client death, but these impacts are not consistently recognised or responded to by their organisations.