Facilitating and Preventing Factors of Tracheostomy Patient Care by Home Caregivers: A Qualitative Study

The unstable condition of tracheostomy patients and the lack of support resources for patients and their families during discharge is the biggest challenge, especially for their home and non-professional caregivers. The present study aimed to identify the factors affecting the care of tracheostomy patients provided by home caregivers.

This qualitative research was conducted from September 2018 to December 2019 using the content analysis method and interviews with nine home caregivers and one professional caregiver in Lorestan Province, Iran. The required data were collected by holding in-depth semi-structured interviews and continued until reaching data saturation. Simultaneously, the gathered data were analyzed using the 5-step approach of Graneheim and Lundman (2004).

The results led to the extraction of 2 themes of preventing and facilitating care factors, 7 categories, and 21 subcategories. The categories related to the theme (preventing factors) of patient care challenges included neglecting the caring role of informal caregivers by the healthcare system, interaction challenges, the high pressure of caregiving, and lack of trust. The categories related to the facilitating factors theme were the experience of the care facilitating over time, the intensification of care with the aim of prevention, and hope and inner satisfaction underlying the care.

The challenges of the family's lack of readiness to accept the new role, the exhausting nature of caregiving, and the caregivers’ lack of skills, and as a result, the imposition of a burden of caregiving, and the emergence of harmful consequences for them in various dimensions, the existence of non-governmental organizations that aim to continue to care for these patients and support their families seems necessary. With support systems and gaining experience over time, the care transition process is facilitated.