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Surrogate End-of-Life Care Decision Makers' Postbereavement Grief and Guilt Responses
Geoff P Lovell1, Trish Smith1, Lee Kannis-Dymand1
1a School of Social Sciences , University of the Sunshine Coast , Maroochydore , Australia.
Abstract:
This article examined differences in familial/friend surrogate decision makers' (N = 93) postbereavement grief and guilt associated with decisions to either prioritize comfort or longevity in determining end-of-life care for decisionally incapacitated adult palliative loved ones. Results demonstrated that participants prioritizing the longevity of loved ones experienced significantly and meaningfully higher levels of grief, complicated grief, and trauma related guilt than those who prioritized comfort.
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