The Impact of Family Dynamics on Palliative Care at the End-of-Life

Abstract

 This commentary is the second in a series highlighting the challenges we face in providing palliative care. This case highlights the 
numerous, multifaceted issues that interplay in the complex web of physical and psycho-social dynamics that are always present 
but    take    on    more    significance    towards    the    end    of    life.    The    rationale    for    documenting    our    experience,    undoubtedly    a    shared    
experience    among    palliative    care    teams,    is    twofold:    (1)    as    a    form    of    narrative    reflective    debriefing    and    (2)    to    give    context    to    the    
distress that we see manifested by families as a loved one enters the end-of-life (EoL) period.