Effect of Narrative-Based Palliative Care on Psychological Stress, Quality of Life, and End-of-Life Acceptance in Elderly Terminal Cancer Patients and Their Families.
Junhua Li, Linlin Zhou, Lijie Sun
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This single-center randomized controlled study evaluated narrative-based palliative care in 50 elderly patients with terminal cancer and their family caregivers. Patients were assigned to narrative-based care or routine care, with 25 in each group. After the intervention, the narrative-care group had lower family psychological stress and greater caregiver satisfaction. Patients in that group also reported better quality of life and sleep, and greater acceptance of death than patients receiving routine care. The abstract reports statistically significant between-group differences (P < .05), but provides no effect sizes.
Key findings
- The study enrolled 50 elderly terminal cancer patients, randomly assigned to narrative-based palliative care or routine care (n = 25 per group).
- Family psychological stress was lower and caregiver satisfaction higher after intervention in the narrative-care group (P < .05).
- Patients receiving narrative-based care reported better quality of life and sleep, and greater acceptance of death (P < .05).
Why it matters
Palliative care outcomes include the experiences of both patients and family caregivers. These preliminary findings suggest that a narrative-based approach may support psychological wellbeing, sleep, and end-of-life acceptance alongside quality of life, while also improving caregiver experience. The results add a potential supportive-care option for evaluation, but do not establish the size or durability of benefit.
What to keep in mind
The study was small and single-center, with narrow inclusion criteria; the abstract provides no effect sizes or follow-up duration. Generalizability is limited.