Homecare workers’ experiences of providing transpersonal palliative care: A qualitative, arts‑based explorative study
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The global population is rapidly aging, increasing the demand for palliative home care, which is largely provided by homecare workers, operating with minimal resources and significant personal involvement. Task-oriented caring limit opportunities for ethical, holistic, and sustainable care. We explored how homecare workers experience transpersonal palliative care and how they perceive its depth, intensity, and complexity. Using an arts‑based qualitative design that combined painting and storytelling, we gathered narratives from 14 homecare workers in Sweden during the spring of 2025. We analyzed the data using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, complemented by critical visual methodology. We constructed one overarching theme, Continuous Flow of Embodied Compassion, and three interrelated subthemes describing Emotional Navigation, Existential Depth, and Shifting Identities. While homecare workers strove to provide holistic palliative care, limited self‑care opportunities and insufficient institutional support challenged the full realization of transpersonal caring in everyday practice.
Source: Death Studies
Authors: Laura Tolboom, Ulla Näppä, Lisbeth Kristiansen
Institution: Mid Sweden University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7153622952