"Just Put the Heart into It and Go with the Flow": Family Preparedness for a Good End-of-Life for People with Dementia from Perspectives of Active Family Caregivers and Healthcare Professionals in Vietnam.

内容摘要

To empower and strengthen person-centred care for people living with dementia, this study aims to explore the good end-of-life (EoL) conception and family preparedness for a good EoL for people with dementia from the perspectives of active family caregivers and healthcare professionals in Vietnam. The present study adopted the empirical, psychological phenomenology. The phenomenological analysis was performed on semi-structured interview data with 28 participants, including 14 active family caregivers and 14 health professionals involved in dementia care at a geriatric hospital in Northern Vietnam. Comparison was conducted within a single interview, between interviews within the same group, and between interviews from different groups. The results report the ambiguity and uncertainty of the EoL concept, while highlighting the visions of the good last days and death for people with dementia as having comfortable last days, dying quickly with minimal pain and suffering, being loved and surrounded by family, and undergoing the necessary rituals. Family preparedness for a good EoL for people with dementia was a comprehensive cognitive, emotional, and behavioural preparedness for both high-quality last living days and a good death of their relative with dementia. Each type of preparedness included a set of different strategies that families applied to get ready for good last days, and also the good death of their relatives. It is crucial to understand culturally based conceptions of good EoL and related family preparedness to better support family caregivers and health professionals during this process.