Inner power, physical strength and existential well-being in daily life: relatives' experiences of receiving soft tissue massage in palliative home care.

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: This article explores relatives' experiences of receiving soft tissue massage as a support supplement while caring for a dying family member at home.

BACKGROUND: In palliative home care, relatives play an important role as carers to seriously ill and dying family members. To improve their quality of life, different support strategies are of importance. Complementary methods, such as soft tissue massage have become an appreciated supplement for these patients. However, only few studies focus on relatives experiences of receiving soft tissue massage as a supplemental support.

DESIGN: Qualitative design

METHOD: Nineteen relatives received soft tissue massage (hand or foot) nine times (25 minutes) in their homes. Open-ended semi-structured tape-recorded interviews were conducted once per relative after the nine times of massage, using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS: Soft tissue massage gave the relatives' feelings of 'being cared for', 'body vitality' and 'peace of mind'. For a while, they put worries of daily life aside as they just experienced 'being'. During massage, it became apparent that body and mind is constituted of an indestructible completeness. The overarching theme was 'inner power, physical strength and existential well-being in their daily lives'.

CONCLUSION: All relatives experienced soft tissue massage positively, although they were under considerable stress. Soft tissue massage could be an option to comfort and support relatives in palliative home care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: In palliative nursing care, soft tissue massage could present a worthy supplement in supporting caring relatives.