Usefulness of an Anticipatory Grief Scale for Family Caregivers（ AGSFC） of a Person Dying at Home

Abstract

In a previous study, we created “An anticipatory grief scale for family caregivers of individuals approaching the end-of-life stage at home” and investigated its reliability and validity.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the usefulness of the above scale by applying it to actual cases. Specifically, the usefulness of the scale was defined as ① interpretation of the validity of scale scores, ② usability of the scale, and ③ application of the scores obtained using the scale for visiting nursing, and the scale was then applied to a total of seven cases.

The results confirmed that the validity of scale scores was comparable to clinical assessment by experienced nurses. Regarding usability, we found that the scale could be used without time constraints or psychological burden in all seven subjects. In addition, the use of the scale in visiting nursing enabled nurses to recognize anticipatory grief at an early stage and thereby facilitated their nursing support to families. The present scale was therefore considered useful.