Experiences and Expectations of Bereavement Contact among Caregivers of Patients with Advanced Cancer.

Background: Contact with bereaved caregivers is not standard practice among cancer physicians, and little is known about its impact on caregivers.

Objective: Our aim was to describe the experiences and opinions of caregivers regarding bereavement contact from healthcare providers (HCP).

Design: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 61 bereaved caregivers.

Subjects: Bereaved caregivers of advanced cancer patients who had completed a randomized controlled trial of an early palliative care intervention were approached one to five years after the patient's death. Caregivers completed qualitative interviews from April 2012 to March 2015 after completion of quantitative measures.

Approach: In semistructured interviews, bereaved caregivers were asked to describe the contact they received from HCP after the patient's death and their opinions about bereavement contact. We used thematic analysis informed by grounded theory to code and analyze the data.

Results: Of 60 caregivers included in the study, 30 (50%) received bereavement contact. There were no thematic differences between trial arms. The themes "contact reflects caring," "contact offers support," and "contact facilitates closure" were prominent among those who were contacted. "Contact is a courtesy," "contact is not always necessary," and "caregiver-initiated contact" were most evident among those who were not contacted. Overall, contact was appreciated by those who received it; for those who did not, reactions included rationalization, ambivalence, and regret. No negative consequences of contact were reported.

Conclusions: Bereavement contact is well received and may be missed if not provided. These data support integration of bereavement contact into routine supportive care for caregivers.