Access to early palliative care: a socio-anthropological analysis of the impact on caregivers

The project is a qualitative research whose main objective is to understand, through a socio-anthropological approach, the impact of early palliative care (EPC) on patients with locally advanced or metastatic cancer and their caregivers, through the following specific objectives: to analyze the understanding of the disease and prognosis of patients and their families; to document the experience of a loved one accompanying a patient with locally advanced or metastatic cancer, and the informal care work of the caregiver in this context, and to analyze the cultural and social construction of this activity ; to understand the various dimensions - negative and positive - of the psychosocial burden of caregiving, mainly on the quality of life and mental health of informal caregivers, as well as on their experience of bereavement after the patient's death; to investigate the point of view (representations, understanding, acceptance) of patients and their relatives with regard to early palliative care.

The survey will be based on in-depth, comprehensive interviews with patient-caregiver couples.