Aspect | Example of our study | Decision |
---|---|---|
Implications of study design | Validation | Multi- centre (different approach necessary?) |
High number of participants required | ||
Exact definition of participants | Informal caregivers | Persons who are close to patients and who have cared for the deceased during his/her last days of life on the palliative care unit in any kind of organisational, physical or emotional manner. They might be family members, spouses, companions, friends or neighbours |
Requirements for study participants | Complexity of questionnaire/questions | Language skills |
Degree of abstraction | Cognitive capability | |
Amount of items/ questionnaires | >18 years old | |
Sophistication of instrument | Feel emotionally stable | |
Estimated duration of interview | ||
Themes | ||
Time of invitation | During bereavement phase vs. immediately upon contact with palliative care unit | At the end of the fourth week after death at the earliest and by the sixteenth week after death at the latest based on ethical considerations |
Time of interview | Bereavement vs. memory accuracy | Four weeks after death at the earliest |
Place of interview | Ease of remembering vs. re-experiencing | Participant’s decision of where to meet |