Supporting Carers in Oxfordshire During and After Someone Dies v1

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  What do unpaid carers in Oxfordshire find helps or hinders their resilience when caring for someone nearing the end of their life at home?

• IRAS ID

  330841

• Contact name

  Samantha Gould

• Contact email

  sam.gould@open.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  The Open University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 2 months, 21 days

• Research summary

  People nearing the end of life rely on the support of family and friends to be able to die at home. Health and Social care services also rely on these unpaid carers to provide a range of support to those dying at home. Health and social care services need to ensure that they are supporting unpaid carers adequately. Research into unpaid carer support is beneficial for unpaid carers, the cared for person and health and social care services. The research will examine what unpaid carers currently caring for someone think helps or hinders their resilience when caring for someone who is dying at home. This will build on previous research which tends to focus on the recollections of bereaved carers and how they coped rather than what impacted their ability to show resilience and continue to care.
  The researcher will invite unpaid carers who meet the inclusion criteria and are caring for people receiving support from a Home Hospice Service (HHS) in Oxfordshire and South Northamptonshire to take part in this project. Interactions between the unpaid carers and paid carers from the HHS will be observed in the home of the cared for person. This is to explore the impact of factors not easily described in an interview such as the impact of the presence of the HHS or the impact of the home environment on unpaid carers resilience. Observations will take place during the visits from the HHS and the aim is to observe several times over the two-week period that the HHS is visiting. Unpaid carers will also be invited to take part in interviews whilst they are supporting their friend or relative and afterwards. Interviews will be sensitively planned to meet the needs of the unpaid carers.

• REC name

  South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/SC/0378

• Date of REC Opinion

  29 Dec 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion