The guilt experiences of post-caregivers bereaved by cancer: a scoping review

Background: According to preliminary research, little is known about the experiences of post-caregivers. In order to study this specific area of knowledge, it is necessary to identify the various phenomena inherent to the bereavement experience. One of these phenomena, repeatedly described in the narratives of this population, concerns the experience of guilt. The purpose of this study is to map the guilt experiences of post-caregivers bereaved by cancer. In addition, this study aims to map the motives, characteristics, predisposing factors and consequences of guilt. Considerations on how to overcome feelings of guilt will also be considered. Methods: Review of the literature following the Scoping Review protocol of the Joanna Briggs Institute. The research included published and unpublished studies and it was performed in Portuguese and English at CINAHL Complete (by EBSCOHost), MEDLINE Complete (by EBSCOHost), Nursing and Allied Health Collection: Comprehensive (by EBSCOHost), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (by EBSCOHost), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (by EBSCOHost), Cochrane Methodology Register (by EBSCOHost), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (by EBSCOHost), Mediclatina (by EBSCOHost) Cochrane Clinical Answers(by EBSCOHost); PubMed (NLM); SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online and PROSPERO- International prospective register of systematic reviews and RCAAP - Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal. The search was conducted by title and abstract. All studies in Portuguese, Spanish and English were considered. No time limits were applied. 4 studies were selected as eligible. Results: It was possible to identify 9 experiences of guilt, 13 motives that trigger it, 9 characteristics about the phenomenon, 7 predisposing factors, 4 possible consequences of its experience, and 4 considerations on how to overcome it. Conclusions: It was possible to extract data and answer the predefined questions. However, the lack of a specific article on the present topic confirms that this is an area of knowledge to be explored. Conducting future phenomenological studies based on the experiences of guilt of post-caregivers bereaved by cancer is needed to develop new knowledge in this specific area of research.