A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions

Background: There is growing awareness that different terminal diseases translate into different family caregiver experiences, and the palliative and supportive care needs of these families are both similar and unique. Family members caring for people with motor neurone disease may experience except...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Aoun, Samar, Bentley, B., Funk, L., Toye, Chris, Grande, G., Stajduhar, K.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Sage Science Press (UK) 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34995
_version_ 1848754375580712960
author Aoun, Samar
Bentley, B.
Funk, L.
Toye, Chris
Grande, G.
Stajduhar, K.
author_facet Aoun, Samar
Bentley, B.
Funk, L.
Toye, Chris
Grande, G.
Stajduhar, K.
author_sort Aoun, Samar
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: There is growing awareness that different terminal diseases translate into different family caregiver experiences, and the palliative and supportive care needs of these families are both similar and unique. Family members caring for people with motor neurone disease may experience exceptional strain due to the usually rapid and progressive nature of this terminal illness. Aim: The purpose of this review is to synthesize contemporary research and provide a comprehensive summary of findings relevant to motor neurone disease family caregivers, as well as highlight some of the suggested interventions to alleviate burden and improve quality of life for this group. Design: We conducted a comprehensive review of empirical research on family caregiving for people with motor neurone disease in peer-reviewed journals published in English, January 2000–April 2011. Fifty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: This comprehensive literature review was consistent with previous research documenting the substantial burden and distress experienced by motor neurone disease family caregivers and revealed important points in the trajectory of care that have the potential for negative effects. The diagnosis experience, assisted ventilation, cognitive changes and end-of-life decision making create challenges within a short time. This review has also implicated the need for improvements in access to palliative care services and highlighted the absence of interventions to improve care. Conclusions: Caregiver burden and quality-of-life studies on motor neurone disease family caregivers have so far dominated the research landscape .The focus needs to be on developing interventions that provide direct practical and psychosocial supports for motor neurone disease family caregivers.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:39:25Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-34995
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:39:25Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Sage Science Press (UK)
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-349952017-09-13T15:52:27Z A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions Aoun, Samar Bentley, B. Funk, L. Toye, Chris Grande, G. Stajduhar, K. Background: There is growing awareness that different terminal diseases translate into different family caregiver experiences, and the palliative and supportive care needs of these families are both similar and unique. Family members caring for people with motor neurone disease may experience exceptional strain due to the usually rapid and progressive nature of this terminal illness. Aim: The purpose of this review is to synthesize contemporary research and provide a comprehensive summary of findings relevant to motor neurone disease family caregivers, as well as highlight some of the suggested interventions to alleviate burden and improve quality of life for this group. Design: We conducted a comprehensive review of empirical research on family caregiving for people with motor neurone disease in peer-reviewed journals published in English, January 2000–April 2011. Fifty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: This comprehensive literature review was consistent with previous research documenting the substantial burden and distress experienced by motor neurone disease family caregivers and revealed important points in the trajectory of care that have the potential for negative effects. The diagnosis experience, assisted ventilation, cognitive changes and end-of-life decision making create challenges within a short time. This review has also implicated the need for improvements in access to palliative care services and highlighted the absence of interventions to improve care. Conclusions: Caregiver burden and quality-of-life studies on motor neurone disease family caregivers have so far dominated the research landscape .The focus needs to be on developing interventions that provide direct practical and psychosocial supports for motor neurone disease family caregivers. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34995 10.1177/0269216312455729 Sage Science Press (UK) fulltext
spellingShingle Aoun, Samar
Bentley, B.
Funk, L.
Toye, Chris
Grande, G.
Stajduhar, K.
A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title_full A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title_fullStr A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title_full_unstemmed A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title_short A 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: Moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
title_sort 10-year literature review of family caregiving for motor neurone disease: moving from caregiver burden studies to palliative care interventions
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34995