End-of-Life care during the pandemic: Experiences of significant others and their psychological burden with a focus on people with migration background

End-of-Life care during the pandemic: Experiences of significant others and their psychological burden with a focus on people with migration background - EMBRACE-ME

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00034716

Enrollment

Registered

2024-07-26

Start date

2024-07-24

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Significant others = 18 years of age, of patients who died of (chronic) diseases during the pandemic (March 2020-January 2023)

Interventions

Group 1: Data collection with significant others via (1) one-time narrative semi-structured interviews as well as (2) socio-demographic questionnaire.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Significant others (= 18 years) of people who died of (chronic) diseases during the pandemic (March 2020-January 2023). People of all genders and ethnic backgrounds can participate in the study. Information material will be provided in German, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Arabic, French, and English. Professional interpreters will be involved in the qualitative data collection. The sample will consist of 15-25 significant others of patients without migration background and 5-10 significant others of patients with migration background. When choosing the participants, special attention will be paid to a heterogeneous sample selection. After receiving comprehensive verbal and written information about the type, content, purpose of the study, and study participation, significant others must sign a written informed consent form to participate in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Exclusion criteria are: (1) Death by accident or suicide; (2) No informed consent due to cognitive impairment; (3) Withdrawal of consent to participate.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The primary outcome will be a qualitative overview of end-of-life care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic from the perspectives of significant others. The overview will include possible lasting consequences of the experience of dying under pandemic conditions for significant others and the extent to which they perceive connections between this experience and anxiety, depression, and complicated grief. The overview will be obtained by using qualitative interview data. The data will be analyzed following a qualitative content analysis.	—

Measure

Time frame

The primary outcome will be a qualitative overview of end-of-life care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic from the perspectives of significant others. The overview will include possible lasting consequences of the experience of dying under pandemic conditions for significant others and the extent to which they perceive connections between this experience and anxiety, depression, and complicated grief. The overview will be obtained by using qualitative interview data. The data will be analyzed following a qualitative content analysis.

—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactChristian Banse

Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Klinik für Palliativmedizin

Christian.Banse@med.uni-goettingen.de+49 551 3960555

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026