Domains of Family Empowerment for Self-Management in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review

ObjectiveIn addition to the limited availability of formal palliative care services, which often leads family members to assume primary caregiving roles, family members are also integral partners in the care of patients with serious illness. Empowering family caregivers is essential to strengthen their capacity to provide care; however, evidence mapping the domains of family empowerment remains limited. This review aims to identify and map the domains of family empowerment for self-management in palliative care.MethodsThis scoping review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework and was reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Article searches were conducted in the Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and EBSCOhost databases. The included studies comprised quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method research discussing family or caregiver empowerment in palliative care. Editorial articles, research protocols, and review articles were excluded from this review. Data were extracted using a standardized extraction table and analyzed narratively using a thematic analysis approach to identify the main domains of family empowerment in palliative care.ResultsA total of 22 studies met the inclusion criteria. Three main domains of family empowerment were identified, namely knowledge empowerment (understanding of the patient's condition, symptom management, and end-of-life preparedness), family caregiving empowerment (communication, decision-making, care planning, and social support), and psychological-emotional empowerment (caregiver mental health, self-care, and grief preparedness).ConclusionsFamily empowerment for self-management is an important and comprehensive approach in palliative care. The integration of these three empowerment domains is necessary to support the sustainability of family roles, particularly in the development of palliative care.