Results
The sample included 80 family caregivers of patients with Stage
D heart failure with a predicted survival of less than two years.
Sample demographics are shown in Table A.1. The majority of
caregivers were the patient’s spouse or partner, the next largest
group was the patients’ children. Caregivers were experienced at
caregiving, providing care for an average of 10 years (SD ¼ 12
years). Qualitative content analysis revealed that fifty-four of the
eighty (68%) caregivers did not perceive the severity of the patient’s
illness and 53/80 (67%) did not realize their loved one was dying
during the initial interview period despite a SHFM predicted survival
of less than two years.