Susan Jo, University of Ottawa

Caregiving at the end of life: Perspectives from spousal caregivers and care recipients

Ms. Jo's study provides insight on how to best support family caregivers and care recipients in the end-of-life caregiving process. With Canada's aging population, it is particularly important to gain this knowledge as it can potentially help offset the burden of institutionalized care.

Analysis was performed on the outcome of ten face-to-face interviews, which involved interviewing both the caregivers and care recipients together and then each separately. The interview included questions regarding the caregiving experience and the presence of informal and formal support systems. Relevant themes concerning the caregiving experience were extracted from the interview transcripts by two independent reviewers.

This study aimed to understand the perspectives of both caregivers and care recipients regarding the caregiving process at the end-of-life. As a result, this information can be used by health care policy makers in developing community-based programs that can optimally support the care recipient and the family caregiver.

Working on this project allowed Ms. Jo to further develop skills such as critical thinking, self-directed learning and independent study. This valuable skill set provided her with a solid foundation that could then be readily applied to other aspects of her academic studies.

Currently, Ms. Jo is in her second year of medical school at the University of Ottawa. By understanding the importance of research, particularly in a field such as medicine, she strives to pursue any research opportunities that are available and will continue to do so in the future.