Palliative care experiences of the patient family

Purpose: In order to provide patient-centred and high-quality palliative care services, it is crucial to acknowledge the perspectives and experiences of patients and their families; yet, there are not adequate number of studies about this subject. The aim of this study is to identify the perceptions of patient families of palliative care and to determine the challenges they have encountered based on their experience in the palliative care service. Materials and Methods: Qualitative and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 patient relatives of patients in the palliative care service. Content analysis method was used for the analysis of qualitative data. Giorgi's four-step qualitative analysis method was used in qualitative data analysis process. Results: It has been determined that patient relatives who had had no prior knowledge on palliative care perceived palliative care services as "the place in which patient care is taught", "a fundamentally crucial assistance service", "a service which has recently been introduced to public knowledge and which must be proliferated". Conclusion: Providing care services for end-of-life patients might be burdensome for caregivers. Therefore, the expectations and attitudes of patient families and the difficulties they experience in the palliative care process might provide beneficial insight to inform policy decisions in palliative care interventions.