Abstract
Context
Family caregivers encounter many challenges when managing pain for their loved ones.
There is a lack of clear recommendations on how to prepare caregivers in pain management.
Objectives
To evaluate existing interventions that support family caregivers in providing pain
management to patients with all disease types.
Methods
Four electronic databases were systematically searched (PubMed, Cumulative Index for
Nursing Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Scopus) using index and keyword methods
for articles published before December 2019. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was
used to assess the quality.
Results
The search identified 6851 studies, and 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. Only
two studies exclusively focused on noncancer populations (8%). Three types of interventions
were identified in this review: educational interventions, cognitive-behavioral interventions,
and technology-based interventions. Both educational and cognitive-behavioral interventions
improved family caregiver and patient outcomes, but the content and intensity of these
interventions in these studies varied widely, and there was a limited number of randomized
clinical trials (68%). Hence, it is unclear what strategies are most effective to
prepare family caregivers in pain management. Technology-based interventions were
feasible to support family caregivers in providing pain management.
Conclusion
Providing adequate pain management training can improve patient and family caregiver
outcomes. However, the most effective interventions for family caregivers are still
unclear. More rigorous and replicable clinical trials are needed to examine the effects
of educational interventions, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and technology-based
interventions. Also, more studies are needed in patients with a noncancer diagnosis
or multimorbidity.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 24, 2020
Accepted:
April 14,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
