"This is just where I live": A Situational Analysis of Rural End-of-Life Caregiving

Abstract

Keating, 2001; Kaden & MacDonald, 1990; MacLean, Cairn, & Sellick, 1998). Women caring for dying persons at the end-of-life have been identified in the literature as those most likely to experience negative physical and mental health outcomes such as declines in health status, depression and anxiety from caregiver burden (Cranwick, 1997). Family caregivers, who do not have access to palliative services including counselling and bereavement services, such as those in rural areas, are in need of more support than other populations (Wilson et al., 2006). Living in rural/remote areas presents challenges for dying persons and their families, such as reduced and difficult access to needed services (Kelley, Sellick & Linkewich, 2003; McConigley, Kristjanson & Nikolette, 2000; Wilson et al., 2009). Additional social and community services are often found only in distant larger communities (Wilson et al., 2006; World Health Organization, 2007). Researchers have noted the paucity of attention to place, particularly rural and 2011). This article contributes to the remedy of this gap; our research study aimed to better understand female provided end-of-life care-giving in rural and remote Ontario communities. In particular, we were interested in the extent to which geography intersects with gender; that is, to what extent (if any) does rural location impact end-of-life care-giving? Keywords: rural, palliative care, qualitative research