Harding, R., Higginson, I.J., Leam, C., Donaldson, N., Pearce, A., George, R., . . . Taylor, L. (2004). Evaluation of a short-term group intervention for informal carers of patients attending a home palliative care service. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 27, 396–408.
To promote self-care by combining informal teaching with group support in a short-term, closed, multiprofessional group
A single group facilitator introduced multiprofessional input from a changing weekly speaker during six 90-minute weekly sessions.
Groups were capped at 12 caregivers and initially focused on patient issues. Transportation for caregivers and a patient-sitting service were provided when necessary.
Four groups were delivered with peer supervision to ensure consistency of the intervention.
The sample (N = 73) was adult, informal, unpaid caregivers of patients receiving palliative care (86% of patients had a cancer diagnosis).
A prospective, observational, comparative (no randomization) design was used between those who accepted the intervention (n = 36) and those who declined the intervention but agreed to data collection in the first wave (n = 37), with limitations in group assignment.
The intervention was not found to affect outcomes for any measures at postintervention (eight weeks) or follow-up (five months).