INTRODUCTION
Palliative care services rely on family members to provide for the practical, day-to-day needs of ill relatives. Family members who become informal caregivers are considered to be the “frontline of primary care” (Milligan, Reference Milligan2006). In Canada, family caregivers provide 80 to 90% of care in home settings (Romanow, Reference Romanow2002). In Australia, family caregivers outnumber paid care providers five to one (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2003). Cares Australia estimates that, if formal care were substituted for family-provided informal care, the cost would be $40 billion (Carers Australia, 2010). In the United Kingdom, approximately 6.4 million people over the age of 65 years provide care (Age UK, 2011). In New Zealand, there are approximately 419,300 informal caregivers (Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, 2010), and in the United States, more than 50 million Americans annually care for a family member (Stambor, Reference Stambor2006). Informal caregivers are the backbone of social care delivery (Stajduhar et al., Reference Stajduhar, Funk and Toye2010). Services are moving toward outpatient care, which means increased involvement for family caregivers (Aoun et al., Reference Aoun, Krisjanson and Currow2005; Grande & Ewing, Reference Grande and Ewing2008).
Informal caregivers are often unprepared for the multiple and varied tasks of tending to family members with life-limiting illnesses (Andershed, Reference Andershed2006; Linderholm & Friedrichsen, Reference Linderholm and Friedrichsen2010). Responsibilities can include independently handling complex medical procedures, performing demanding physical tasks, managing finances, advocating for the patient, making decisions, providing emotional support, and coordinating care (Stajduhar et al., Reference Stajduhar, Allan and Cohen2008). The conclusions of many studies have shown that informal caregivers feel unprepared and desire more support, guidance, and information (Bevan & Pecchioni, Reference Bevan and Pecchioni2008; Hudson, Aranda, & McMurray, Reference Hudson, Aranda and McMurray2002; Morris & Thomas, Reference Morris and Thomas2002).
During this time, family members experience increased stress levels and physical ailments, demonstrating how they have unmet needs (Barazzetti et al., Reference Barazzetti, Borreani and Miccinesi2010; Empeno, Reference Empeno2013; Tsigaroppoulos et al., Reference Tsigaroppoulos, Mazaris and Chatzidarellis2009). Collectively, studies have confirmed that providing sufficient information is critical to meeting informal caregivers' needs and assisting families through this stressful time. Recent research concluded that group education was an effective way of supporting informal caregivers (Applebaum & Breitbart, Reference Applebaum and Breitbart2013; Hudson & Aranda, Reference Hudson and Aranda2013; Hudson et al., Reference Hudson, Aranda and Hayman-White2005; Reference Hudson, Trauer and Kelly2013). Further, a Cochrane report noted that providing community care services, including caregiver education, was beneficial in allowing patients to die at home, if that was their choice (Gomes et al., Reference Gomes, Calanzani and Curial2013). Providing sufficient information appears to be a key to increasing comfort levels and reducing anxiety levels (Broback & Bertero, Reference Broback and Bertero2003; Cain et al., Reference Cain, MacLean and Sellick2004; Demiris et al., Reference Demiris, Oliver and Wittenberg-Lyles2009; Elde, Reference Elde1986; Henriksson & Årestedt, Reference Henriksson and Årestedt2013; Kessler et al., Reference Kessler, Peters and Lee2005).
Research groups have acknowledged the need for extensive work in this area. According to the National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference (NIH, 2004), there is a paucity of research that comprehensively defines the needs of informal caregivers. At the International Symposium on Supportive, Palliative, and End-of-Life Care, Hagen and colleagues (Reference Hagen, Addington-Hall and Sharpe2006) described approaches employed in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Symposium research attendees from all three countries recognized the need for research in the family/informal caregiver support category. Information was seen as key to supporting families and identifying families at risk for adverse health and emotional/spiritual consequences. But what information do caregivers want? What do caregivers say their needs are?
Findings in other studies have focused on the need for education in the areas of handling unfamiliar or new tasks so that informal caregivers perform these tasks without increasing their stress levels while simultaneously maintaining their own health. Sekelja and coworkers (Reference Sekelja, Butow and Tattersall2010) and Tsigaroppoulos and colleagues (Reference Tsigaroppoulos, Mazaris and Chatzidarellis2009) noted that families appreciated receiving practical help and solutions when handling difficult tasks. Tamayo and colleagues (Reference Tamayo, Broxson and Munsell2010) found that informal caregivers wanted better communication in the areas of symptom management and medication administration. Further, those who prepared for grief were more likely to feel in control and ready to handle it (Rando, Reference Rando1986; Lin & Tsao, Reference Lin and Tsao2004).
These findings point to the need for education. Education empowers caregivers and helps them better fulfill their roles (Broback & Bertero, Reference Broback and Bertero2003). Collectively, the studies discussed above confirm that providing sufficient information is critical to meeting informal caregivers' needs and assisting families through this stressful time.
Authors' Statements
The authors drew conclusions from primary data and literature; however, they recognize that their backgrounds inevitably influenced this work. The first author grew up in the United States, where 10 years ago her mother utilized hospice services. She has been trained in occupational therapy and educational psychology. She emigrated to New Zealand in 2009 and works in a hospice. The second author is a pakeha (European New Zealander), middle-aged male with training in theology, education, public health, and health promotion. For this study, both authors come from the background of the stance of a naïve observer (Pillow, Reference Pillow2003).
Aim
The aim of our study was to explore family caregivers' experiences from their perspective as they cared for their dying relatives.
METHOD
Research Design
We selected a methodology that would enable caregivers to develop their own voice and stories around their experiences. Photovoice, a participatory method, fit the criterion of allowing caregivers to speak freely about their role. Participatory methods can help researchers create knowledge that is more closely centered on the experiences of individuals with illness and disability (Letts, Reference Letts2003). Further, it creates a partnership between researcher and participants (Lal et al., Reference Lal, Jarus and Suto2012). It enabled participants to show and describe their contexts, providing relevant information as to the issues caregivers face (Andonian & MacRae, Reference Andonian and MacRae2011).
We employed Photovoice (Wang & Burris, Reference Wang and Burris1997), a qualitative research method in which participants are given cameras to take photographs representing the topic under investigation. A narrative analysis approach, Photovoice provides rich insight into firsthand experiences and allows for exploration from various angles (Bingley & Clark, Reference Bingley and Clark2008). Visual data alone may be difficult to interpret; however, when explained through stories, the visual images reflect the realities and experiences the participants face (Harper, Reference Harper2002). The visual data compel participants to reflect on and discern their own perspectives (Gold, Reference Gold2004). Further, this type of methodology allows participants, rather than the researcher, to determine both the subject and meaning of a photograph (Carlsson, Reference Carlsson2001; Hurworth, Reference Hurworth2003; Radley & Taylor, Reference Radley and Taylor2003).
Photovoice was a useful tool in the current study because the informal home caregivers were alone much of the time when stressful situations arose. Using the camera, they captured the situations in photographs and later recalled the related stories. They were able to illustrate their experiences, speak freely about their concerns, introduce issues, and communicate their experiences. Participants photographed objects and situations depicting their tasks and concerns and later discussed them with the first author. This allowed for many aspects of the informal caregiver role to emerge. The method helped capture concerns that may have been previously overlooked, ignored, or not conceptualized, yet were integral to the informal caregiver's well-being. Photovoice provided an insider's perspective. This “insider's view” has been successfully used to uncover areas unrecognized in other investigations (Marshall & Rossman, Reference Marshall and Rossman1999). The insider's perspective can be seen in investigations of such things as the activities of the elderly (Mahood et al., Reference Mahood, Chaudhury and Michael2012; Rush et al., Reference Rush, Murphy and Kozak2012), problems faced by homeless women (Bukowski & Buetow, Reference Bukowski and Buetow2011), and the outlook of cancer survivors (Yi & Zebrack, Reference Yi and Zebrack2010). The current authors believe that this is the first time Photovoice has been used with caregivers.
Participants
Each informal caregiver was over the age of 18, lived with the ill family member, and was the main person responsible for care of the ill person within the home. The person being cared for had a terminal illness, was predicted to live less than a year, and was enrolled in the Otago Community Hospice (Dunedin, New Zealand). Hospice community coordinators serving the local urban/suburban community recruited informal caregivers. The study sample consisted of a convenience sample of 10 caregivers. Some 12 caregivers were approached. The first 10 potential participants who agreed to participate were accepted into the study. After an explanation of the study, two caregivers chose not to participate. Both reported that they wanted to concentrate on traveling and living as the ill family member's health permitted. Living to these two caregivers meant participating in recreational and social activities. They realized that participating in our project could help them reflect and contemplate their current situation, but they chose to spend their time pursuing other options. They were thanked for their interest.
Ethics approval was obtained from the Lower South Ethics Committee (Health and Disability Services Policy Group, the Population Health Directorate, and the Ministry of Health). We employed pseudonyms for all participant names to protect confidentiality.
Data Collection
Six sessions were initially to be conducted in two focus groups of five participants each. However, 8 of the 10 participants felt uncomfortable leaving their family member unattended or with a volunteer. Therefore, data collection procedures were modified. The first author met eight of the participants privately in their homes, with all other family members in other rooms out of hearing range. The ninth participant's husband rested on the couch during sessions without making comments. The first author met with the tenth participant in a coffee shop of their choosing. The acoustics of the selected shop allowed for private conversation. All participants took part in five or six sessions, except for one caregiver who died after session four. See Figure 1 for a study flowchart.
Fig. 1. Study flowchart.
During the orientation session, the first author explained the purpose of the study, showed examples of the types of photographs being sought, gave a tutorial on digital camera operation and shot composition, and answered all questions.
At the end of the orientation session, a prompt was given to guide participants as to the type of information the authors were interested in learning. A prompt was given at the end of subsequent sessions as inspiration for the following week's pictures. Prompts to help participants understand the nature of the project and what was being asked of them were developed (Rose, Reference Rose1996; Wang, Reference Wang1999). The prompts were: (1) take photos of things that show what your life is like; (2) take photos of things that concern you; (3) take photos of tasks you do now that you didn't used to do; (4) take photos that show how you are feeling; and (5) take photos that show what you will be doing when all this is over (i.e., after the relative died). It was made clear to participants that they were free to use or ignore the prompts, and they were encouraged to introduce new topics. At the beginning of each session, the pictures taken since the previous sessions were downloaded to a computer. The participant and first author viewed each photograph while the participant told the accompanying story. Interviews were digitally recorded.
Data Analysis
All interviews were transcribed and checked for accuracy of transcription. They were analyzed using Atlas.ti (2009). Interrater reliability was achieved by having the authors and two occupational therapists with graduate degrees each read through three of the interviews and code them. A coding scheme was developed with agreement consistent or variances resolved. Similarly, the authors and two occupational therapists independently reviewed the codes and developed themes. Data were grouped into meaningful patterns so as to the understand major and minor themes that ran through the transcripts.
Analysis followed a “generic qualitative research” process (Caelli et al., Reference Caelli, Ray and Mill2003). A growing number of studies employ generic approaches, particularly in applied research. Thus, the process included reflexive thinking, transcribing, coding, developing themes, and extracting quotes to support the themes.
RESULTS
Participants
Ten New Zealand European informal caregivers who were caring for family members with less than a year to live participated in our study. Ten participants were chosen because the number matched the available resources (e.g., cameras); provided sufficiently rich data to explore research needs; and reached saturation within the sample frame. Participants' names have been changed to protect their anonymity. Participant demographics are reported in Table 1.
Table 1. Caregiver demographics
The participants produced 961 photographs and shared them with the first author during 51 individual interviews lasting from 50 to 90 minutes each. Seven themes emerged (Table 2).
Table 2. Themes
Physical Demands
Tasks described under the physical demands category were preparing meals, addressing personal hygiene (toileting, showering, and washing bed linens), performing household chores, and using technology to assist with tasks. Female participants described how they managed tasks that they were physically unable to accomplish. For example, one female participant described the physical demands of stacking wood, a point illustrated by a photograph of firewood in a jumbled pile on the front lawn and a photograph of firewood neatly stacked against a fence:
Neil used to stack all the wood, and he can't do it anymore. So we have a boy who comes up after school, and he stacks it for a few dollars and a Pavlova [a New Zealand dessert]. —Lesley, age 59
Moving heavy trash bags to the curb on collection day was another physical demand that a female participant described. She photographed a homemade dolly on wheels:
I've got a frame out there; my brother made it for my father. He had arthritis. So I've now got this wee frame. It was made from a rim of a car. It's got two wee wheels and a wee handle. So I put my recycle bin on it and my rubbish and wheel it out. —Donna, age 55
Emotional/Spiritual Stress
Topics under the emotional/spiritual domain centered on emotional stress. Emotional and spiritual concerns were combined because their differences were not clearly discernible. Contemporary mental health definitions (Keleher & Armstrong, Reference Keleher and Armstrong2005; Lindridge, Reference Lindridge2007) justify combining these themes, and findings on spirituality's correlations with and contributions to other domains of human wellness are increasingly reported in the literature of the social and behavioral sciences and the health-related professions (Moberg, Reference Moberg2002). Situations that caused stress ranged from the small amounts of food the ill family member was eating to which medical service to call or visit when new symptoms emerged (the general practitioner, the oncologist, the hospice physician, or the hospital's emergency department). Much of the time, caregivers grappled with these situations under duress (e.g., when the family member had uncontrolled pain or was experiencing breathlessness or the caregiver was in a sleep-deprived state).
The following story illustrates an emotionally stressful situation. The accompanying photograph was of the caregiver's husband sitting in the car with his seatbelt on, a water bottle nestled between his thighs:
His breathing is getting worse. We went out to the school sports in [a nearby town] on Wednesday, and he had two breathing attacks. I thought he was all right, so I sent him inside [upon returning home], and I said, “I'll get the mail.” And he had a really bad breathing attack, and was panicking when I came inside, and he'd wet everywhere. The doctor came yesterday and gave him a morphine spray and some more tablets. The district nurse is going to come to talk to him about the incontinence. Last night, he said he realized it was getting harder. —Deborah, age 55
Participants also mentioned lack of sleep, as in the following transcription excerpt:
The hard part is the lack of sleep. Sometimes in the middle of the night you have an “oopsie” [bowel movement]. So in the middle of the night you get up, and you change the sheets, and you take the blankets off. You then have to work out how you are going to clean the blanket. The last couple of nights I haven't gotten a lot of sleep. One night she had breathing difficulty. Rest—rest is paramount for her, and for me to get enough rest would be good, but it is easier said than done. That's what life is about, and a whole night's sleep is not part of it. —Tom, age 65
Participants also discussed the ill family member's loss of appetite, a state that caused caregivers emotional stress:
Like when my wife wasn't eating. You feel you should be doing something. If they don't eat, they don't (. . .) you know, they'll lose strength, they'll lose weight. It's difficult to keep your hand out of that and say well, you know. You've got to. It's difficult to find that balance. To encourage, but not to push. —Andrew, age 66
Participants' spiritual needs were expressed through individual and inclusive activities that suggested the ways they found meaning in their lives. Some enjoyed playing bowls (a sport similar to the Italian game of bocce) with friends, walking along the beach, or working in their gardens, or, for example, taking a picture of her potted plants next to a fence. One participant reported,
I like being outside on a nice day. It's therapeutic, and I suppose it's a sense of it [the garden] looking nice when it was messy to start with and then you think, Oh, that's better. —Tina, age 55
Preparing for the Future
Regarding future plans, five participants looked at the future as an opportunity to travel. Traveling was seen as an activity that they were delaying while in the role of caregiver but looked forward to pursuing once their responsibilities were completed. The other five participants had no specific plans for the future.
Securing Help
All participants mentioned securing help, illustrating that assistance from others was a significant concern. Four had successful experiences, but six had difficulty either asking for help or accepting offers of help. One participant described her resistance to accepting help and finally accepting it, illustrated by a photo of a sawed-off tree trunk:
Friends of mine told me, “Look, Patricia, you've got to accept help.” Because I just wasn't. And then a friend texted me, “I've got my chainsaw; I'll be coming around. What can I do?” That kind of help is great. And you say, “Well, I'd love this tree trunk chopped down.” Half of the garden was dead and the trestle had fallen over. On Saturday, my friend with the chainsaw arrived with a whole lot of people. They just arrived. I burst into tears. It was lovely. —Patricia, age 47
The brothers of two female participants wanted their fathers to be placed in nursing homes. The sisters (the participants) understood that caring for and living with their fathers meant they were going against their brothers' wishes:
My brother said, “We will do what we [he and his wife] can do, but we cannot do what you do. And if your husband comes down and you need to ask for help, then Dad will go into a rest home.” I took the information in and thought, How can I ever ask for help? The whole reason I'm here is so Dad is not in a rest home. I rung my brother back just to confirm what I'd heard. So I said, “Thank you for saying that you can't commit to the level I've committed, and you can't—including your wife—do what I do. And if I need help from 5:00 Friday to 7:00 Sunday, Dad will have to go into a home.” And he said, “Yes. That would be the bottom line.” —Fiona, age 55
Both participants were resolute in their actions. They would care for their fathers, despite limited emotional and physical support from their brothers.
Medication Management
Caregivers spent time managing several aspects of medications. Participants described increased visits to the pharmacist and frustrations when the pharmacist did not have their entire order ready, meaning additional trips. Donna took a photo of medication bottles and a pillbox she was filling:
Today, I just finished doing that for the whole week. So I keep all the pills in the box and then put them into individual days of the week, and then it is done for the whole week. Because he has so many to take. That is what that photo is about. —Donna, age 55
The simplicity of Donna's quote demonstrated that the depth of feeling and desire to stay on top of the medication regime become part of the everyday caregiver experience.
Navigating Agencies
All participants discussed government benefits for which they or their family member might be entitled. One participant described the Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) sickness benefit, which her husband was entitled to due to a life-threatening heart condition. WINZ paid for this particular participant's phone line. The phone was considered essential in case the patient needed immediate medical attention. Another participant applied for and received funding for a nebulizer to ease her husband's breathing.
Two participants noted that filling out the paperwork was laborious. Another participant, whose husband needed a ramp into his house, realized it would take more than a year for the work to be completed using the public system. She and her sons, who were familiar with woodworking jobs, decided to fund and complete the task themselves rather than wait for a government subsidy.
Relationships
The relationships category included all discussions concerning families, friends, and health professionals. One participant found that his wife's declining health meant she could no longer engage with their grandchildren:
Suddenly, grandchildren who were the sole focus of our lives, it's no longer that way. And they have to adjust to that. “Can we go see Nanny now?” No, you can't see Nanny at the moment. Maybe later on. Suddenly it's very hard for them as well. Nanny just lived for the grandchildren, and now Nanny can't cope with the grandchildren. That is quite a stressful part of our lives. —Tom, age 65
Another participant developed new ways to connect with friends and family.
I have a friend I meet up with. And three of the ladies [from church], we went out to lunch. That's probably why I'm putting on weight: too many lunches and coffees. These are people outside my own family. And, of course, we have a routine going there, too. The kids come out every Thursday night and I cook. It's automatic. We know it is going to happen every Thursday, unless we have an earthquake. —Gary, age 68
Patricia, who was caring for her husband, used a photograph of a three-dimensional artwork of intertwining ribbons to discuss concerns about the interconnections of refusing help from her mother and the relationship with her mother:
This is a piece of artwork in the hospital entrance. It's the whole burdensome thing, really. It's the twisty bits in it. And life is quite burdensome a lot of the time. There are so many parts to it all. It's the hospital system. It's dealing with my family and my mother and her wanting to help but not knowing how to help and instead of just arriving saying, “Here I am, what can I do?” wanting to know what it is that she should do before she comes. And finding that too difficult to deal with, saying to her, “No, everything is fine,” when it is not at all fine. And so she does not get a true picture of what is going on. —Patricia, age 47
All participants spoke of family and friends, who were part of their normal interactions, either face to face or through phone calls and email messages. Participants found these interactions either helpful and strengthening or stressful. The photographs and stories demonstrated concern, support, and the complexities and stresses involved in relationships.
DISCUSSION
Our study was undertaken to identify informal caregivers' concerns about caregiving from their point of view. The results were grouped into seven themes: physical demands, emotional/spiritual stress, preparing for the future, securing help, medication management, navigating the agencies, and relationships.
Physical Demands
Physical demands generated a great deal of concern. Female participants spent time in problem solving ways to finish jobs they were not physically strong enough to complete. For instance, Deborah began carrying the trash cans to the curb when her husband could no longer manage this weekly task. However, the cans were too heavy for her to carry. In her garage, she found a dolly with wheels, a device her brother had made years earlier. Using this device, she effortlessly wheeled the cans to the curb. For weeks, she lifted the heavy cans and suffered from sore arms and back before realizing the solution was in the back of the garage. For Lesley, the solution for having her wood chopped and stacked was bartering. She used a small portion of her personal funds and then used her baking skills to make up the difference.
Our results confirmed the findings of other studies. Physical demands are burdensome for caregivers (Emlet, Reference Emlet1996; Ferrario et al., Reference Ferrario, Cardillo and Vicario2004; Given et al., Reference Given, Sherwood and Given2011). The burdens listed were fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion, poor health, and decreased time for rest. Formal training has been shown to help reduce these burdens (Donelan et al., Reference Donelan, Hill and Hoffman2002; Hudson et al., Reference Hudson, Aranda and Hayman-White2005). Grande and Ewing (Reference Grande and Ewing2009) suggested that respite can be beneficial. However, Ingleton and colleagues (Reference Ingleton, Payne and Nolan2003) noted that there is no clear evidence to support that rest reduces caregiver burden or improves mental health. Studies have been imprecise as to the implementation stage to reduce the burden of physical demands. Education might provide a solution. In one review paper, Applebaum and Breitbart (Reference Applebaum and Breitbart2013) found that interventions—which included components of psychoeducation, communication training, education regarding cancer treatments, problem solving, and coping skill training—had lower attrition rates. One conclusion was that the participants benefited from the sessions. Listening to caregiver problems and brainstorming potential solutions may help decrease the burdens caregivers feel—like using the trolley stored in the back of the garage or using one's cooking skills to bake a Pavlova.
Emotional/Spiritual Stress
Our findings confirm the findings of other studies on the emotional burden placed on caregivers (Applebaum et al., Reference Applebaum, Farran and Mariziliano2013; Hopkinson et al., Reference Hopkinson, Brown and Okamoto2012; Hudson & Aranda, Reference Hudson and Aranda2013; Moore et al., Reference Moore, Collins and Brand2013; Northouse et al., Reference Northouse, Williams and Given2012). In our study, emotional toll was related to several situations. For example, caregivers suffered sleep deprivation due to getting up one or more times at night to manage the needs of the ill family member. Another stress was related to observing and monitoring the general decline of a patient's health and the decreasing number of activities in which they could participate. Watching a relative lose the ability to perform tasks can cause emotional pain (Beach et al., Reference Beach, Schulz and Yee2000; Harding et al., Reference Harding, Epiphaniou and Hamilton2012). Another area that caused stress for participants in our study was watching the family member lose interest in food and lose weight. This stress related to reduced food intake was confirmed by the findings of Hirdes and coworkers (Reference Hirdes, Freeman and Smith2012). Similarly, Stajduhar and colleagues (Reference Stajduhar, Funk and Toye2010) reported that the majority of quantitative studies found moderate to high levels of emotional/psychological stress. Funk and coworkers (Reference Funk, Stajduhar and Toye2010) reached the same conclusion when reviewing qualitative studies. Caregivers certainly suffer from increased emotional turmoil and stress.
It is acknowledged by the current authors that the emotional/spiritual theme is strongly interconnected with the relationship theme. Due to the emotional tone of the stories and the stress involved, the authors placed these stories under the rubric of the emotional theme.
Securing Help
A major worry after emotional/spiritual concerns focused on securing help from others, which fell into two categories: being reticent to ask for help when needed and being reluctant to accept help when offered. The reluctance of caregivers to accept help has been reported in other studies. The National Alliance for Caregiving (2004) noted that relying on others was seen as a loss of independence. Tang (Reference Tang2009) found that caregivers were reluctant to ask for help despite having friends. No further explanation was provided for this phenomenon.
The current Photovoice study revealed various reasons and motivations for caregivers' reluctance to ask for help despite their burdens and challenges. Some participants ignored the need for help to avoid additional stress, while others ignored the need to prevent increasing tension among family members. Further, asking for assistance may have added a new dimension to an already complex, stressful life.
Two female participants asked their brothers for help. The brothers wanted the fathers to live out their remaining days in a nursing home. The two female participants wanted to care for their fathers themselves, but they also desired support from their brothers. This support was not forthcoming. The two female participants faced the complexity of caring for dying fathers at home while simultaneously navigating through sensitive family dynamics. They were on their own while caring for their fathers. Fiona had to promise her brother that, if she needed support, she needed to call New Zealand's emergency telephone number or put their father in a nursing home. The brothers in these two instances appeared emotionally detached. However, the circumstances that lay behind their actions were unknown.
The two female participants were satisfied with their decisions, yet they knew they did not have family assistance, should they need it. Plans should be in place at the beginning of the caring role for a second caregiver (Angelo et al., Reference Angelo, Egan and Reid2013). In this way, when the primary caregiver needs a break, requires respite, or becomes incapacitated, a second caregiver is ready to step up.
In Patricia's situation, her need for help with her overgrown garden was caught in a web of concerns that were difficult to separate. Initially, it was easier for Patricia to ignore her garden rather than organize a work party: “I find it too difficult to deal with, so I end up saying everything is fine when everything is not fine.” However, in her particular case, her friends stepped in to help despite her protests.
Another common reason for not requesting help was the tension it caused between caregivers and patients. One participant wanted the fence painted but would not ask anyone to paint it because that was her husband's job. Asking for help would have called attention to her husband's declining health. Ignoring the fence caused less stress than addressing the fence's poor condition.
Although asking for assistance can be psychologically difficult, it is essential that caregivers, already burdened with tasks, learn how to ask for help. Asking and receiving help can relieve some caregiver burden and assist them with continuing in their primary role: looking after the ill family member. “More than a million: Understanding the UK's carers of people with cancer” (Ipsos MORI & Macmillan Cancer Support, 2011) reported that the most frequent support comes from family (44%) or friends (28%).
When asking family members for assistance is not possible, as seen with two of the female participants in our study, health professionals can educate caregivers by helping them identify other resources, such as friends or neighbors. Health professionals can also provide information on volunteer organizations that can assist. Social workers can educate caregivers as to which government agencies can provide financial assistance.
Caregivers may need education on how to tap into community resources. Caregiver fatigue may obscure the ability to identify where support might come from—that is, family, friends, or church groups. They may need assistance with learning how to ask or allowing friends to help. Health professionals can help caregivers strategize, identify others who could help, and assist in putting a plan into place. Caregivers could receive such help as asking someone to fill in during a weekly afternoon off, having someone come in on a regular basis to clean or cook, or organizing a week's respite for the ill family member in a nursing home.
Medication Management
Participants in our study worried about giving the medications in the prescribed amounts at the correct time. If a family member was in pain, participants wanted to be sure they administered the correct dosage. They also wanted to know what to do if they gave an incorrect dosage. Other medication issues they were constantly monitoring included how many pills were left and if they would have enough. They also found keeping up with the ever-changing medication regimens exhausting. Many other studies have confirmed these findings (Connell et al., Reference Connell, Fernandez and Tran2013; Hirdes et al., Reference Hirdes, Freeman and Smith2012; Payne & Hudson, Reference Payne, Hudson and Walsh2008; Tang, Reference Tang2009).
Relationships
Relationships form the basis of society and help define who we are. A change in relationships due to a change in health status can cause stress and/or sadness in the affected parties. In Tom's story, his wife's failing health negatively affected her relationship with their grandchildren, as she could no longer engage in family activities. Her withdrawal heightened the grandchildren's concern for their grandmother and Tom's concern for his wife. Patricia's story showed the complexity of relationships and their effect on caregivers' lives. Gary's story represented the positive effects of friendships and how friends helped him cope with his wife's illness.
Many of our caregivers' were interconnected. The emotional toll was connected to the physical demands and to participants' relationships. Patricia's gardening story exemplified how stress, physical demands, and social and spiritual issues intertwine, demonstrating the Te Whare Tapa Whā principle of interconnection (Cherrington, Reference Cherrington2009; Durie, Reference Durie2001). Gardening, a physical task (tinana), has a social component when friends help to weed and plant. The garden cleanup becomes a social (whanau) event that benefits the entire family (whanau). In the end, the overgrown garden is transformed into a haven for spiritual (wairua) renewal. The importance of connecting with nature and awe-inspiring experiences are noted elsewhere in the literature (Barton et al., Reference Barton, Grudzen and Zielske2003; Norfolk, Reference Norfolk2000). MacKinlay (Reference MacKinlay2006) found that the spiritual, understood as one's ultimate meaning, is mediated through relationships, religion, and the environment, including gardens.
Patricia's story about how visits from her family were stressful events demonstrated not only how relationships play an important part in caregivers' lives but also how the securing help and relationships themes are interconnected. According to Patricia, visits from her parents, who lived in another town, would have been unhelpful. When speaking to her parents on the phone, Patricia chose her words carefully. She informed them of her husband's condition yet did not share the seriousness of the illness. She refrained from asking for help as, in her eyes, hosting them in her house for a week would be a burden.
Caregivers had different emotional responses to relationships. Tom expressed sadness when his wife could no longer engage with their grandchildren. Gary was able to keep the family connected by organizing a weekly family dinner. However, Patricia found the relationship with her mother too difficult and avoided the encounter.
Through education, palliative team members may be able to facilitate caregivers' relationships with their families and others. Palliative care health professionals can help identify relational obstacles. Through this identification, the health professional can help caregivers find solutions that may ease stress and lead to developing ways of managing other difficult relationships. Further, palliative care health professionals can refer caregivers to palliative care counseling services.
Financial issues were raised in other studies (Jorgensen et al., Reference Jorgensen, Parsons and Jacobs2010; Stajduhar et al., Reference Stajduhar, Funk and Toye2010) and indirectly permeated the participants' stories in our study. As discussed earlier, one caregiver baked food in exchange for a boy chopping and stacking her wood. Another discussed the expense of hiring a cleaning lady. In another family, the son constructed a wheelchair ramp and deck for his father. The family received a quote from a builder but decided to do it themselves due to the expense. Participants expressed concern and indirectly stated how they were being careful with their personal funds. In lower socioeconomic groups, the financial burden may have been more pronounced.
STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS
Nine of the participants met with the first author five to six times, thus fostering a productive relationship. Participants chose the subject matter they photographed and the stories they shared, directing the research to the areas that were significant, pressing, and of concern to them. When taking photographs, they were free to employ the prompts provided by the first author or to introduce new issues. Further, the Photovoice methodology may have been an empowering experience.
The participants were all New Zealand Europeans. Further research is required with other ethnic groups in New Zealand. Eight of the participants' family members had cancer. Thus, the needs of family members with relatives who have life-limiting illnesses other than cancer are not well represented by our findings. Photovoice is inherently a retrospective method. Caregivers recalled how they felt and what their experiences were based on photographs they had taken the previous week. Though the timespan was short (a few days) between when the photograph was taken and the interview, a recall bias may have been introduced. Furthermore, the sample size was small. With these limitations in mind, the findings are not generalizable, but they may be transferable.
CONCLUSIONS
This study contributes to the literature on caregiver roles and responsibilities. The themes were physical demands, emotional/spiritual stress, preparing for the future, securing help, medication management, navigating the agencies, and relationships. These themes were found to be intertwined, highlighting the complexity of caregiving. This complexity impacts the ability of caregivers to provide quality care for their dying relatives. Our study also offers insight into understanding the issue of accepting help as being complex.
It is well known that caregivers want support and information. Further research should focus on the effectiveness of interventions in the three areas this study identified. The interventions could be in the form of group education, responsiveness of palliative care health professionals, or the impact of providing practical solutions for physical demands and help with handling relationships.
Further study regarding barriers to accepting help may assist palliative care professionals in helping caregivers increase their ability to accept help. On a practical level, this research may inform palliative care teams how to educate caregivers about overcoming obstacles to securing help. Meeting the needs in this area would be expected to reduce caregiver stress and burden, resulting in fewer adverse health and emotional consequences. In turn, the ill family member would receive better palliative attention from the family caregiver. Attending to the needs of caregivers has the potential of improving the quality of care that patients receive. Clinicians need to be aware of caregivers' needs and intervene to allow for the best possible outcomes.
FUNDING
Funding for ten digital point-and-shoot cameras was provided through St. Kilda Community Sports Society.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Dr. Linda Wilson and Clare Greensmith for input and guidance.
