Hospice Patients’ End-of-Life Dreams and Visions: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

Abstract

When conscious, about 50% to 60% of hospice patients report a “visitation” by someone who is not there while they dream or are awake: a phenomenon known as End-of-Life Dreams and Visions (ELDVs). Since the dying process is frequently complicated by delirium, ELDVs risk being misidentified as such by professionals and caregivers. To observe these phenomena from patients’ perspectives, we conducted a systematic review to aggregate and synthesize the findings from the qualitative studies about ELDVs of patients assisted in hospices to indicate future directions for research and care. MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched, yielding 293 documents after duplicates were removed. Six qualitative articles reporting on five unique studies conducted in hospice settings were included in the meta-synthesis. We generated three main categories: i) typologies of ELDVs reported, ii) emotional consequences, and iii) intersubjective meaning-making. The ELDVs reported were experiences that remained intimate and unsocialized and thus preventing participants from defining a shared sense in their relationships. Training healthcare professionals to recognize ELDVs and take advantage of them in the care relationship is desirable. We also encourage the patient’s family members to listen and understand ELDVs when they occur actively. For caregivers to know how to interpret these phenomena may provide them with additional strategies for supporting, reassuring, and strengthening their relationships with their loved ones. The review allowed us to inform healthcare professionals and caregivers about how to help patients share their emotional and identity-related experiences and meaning-making in end-of-life.