3.1. Design and setting

A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used for the study. In the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the meanings of the lived experience are discovered through the interpretive findings of the text of life [11]. This study was conducted in a hospital in Hat Yai city, southern Thailand. The hospital provided the opportunity to the patients' family members to participate in caring for the patients in ward units during the visiting time and would allow the family members extra time to be with the patients. The care activities provided by the family caregivers included cleaning the patient's body, giving massages, providing psychological and spiritual support, feeding, etc.