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Table 1 Relevant aspects of decisions for recruitment strategy in quantitative end-of-life care research

From: End-of-life care research with bereaved informal caregivers – analysis of recruitment strategy and participation rate from a multi-centre validation study

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