Abstract: Effective end-of-life communication can not only alleviate the psychological distress (such as anxiety, sense of loss) experienced by terminally ill patients, but also help family caregivers cope with bereavement grief. This article reviews the current status of communication between primary caregivers and terminally ill patients regarding illness and death preparation in the family context, including communication experiences and their impacts. It also summarizes the research progress on influencing factors, so as to provide a reference for subsequent interventions to improve the quality of end-of-life communication.

Key words: family primary caregivers; terminally ill patients; communication; disease; death