Anticipatory grief in everyday life among dementia caregivers: A qualitative systematic review

Anticipatory grief in dementia caregiving has been predominantly examined through clinical and psychological lenses, with less attention to the socio-cultural contexts shaping caregivers' everyday experiences. Registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251124042), this qualitative systematic review explored how dementia caregivers understand and respond to anticipatory grief within their everyday social and cultural contexts. Across six databases, we identified 60 studies from 12 countries. Through thematic analysis informed by Bech-Jørgensen's social responsivity theory, we constructed three overarching themes: 'Redefining personhood and otherhood amid critical transitions', 'Reconstructing everyday roles, routines, and relationships amid temporal asynchronicity', and 'Institutionalization as a threshold of suspended and renewed meaning-making'. Caregivers navigated anticipatory grief's temporal ambiguity through relational shifts, displacements, and ruptures, while supportive environments fostered social responsivity. Anticipatory grief was deeply embedded in everyday caregiving, kinship expectations, and self-care practices. Caregivers frequently described dementia-related losses through 'living-death' metaphors, highlighting moral tensions and the need for socially and culturally responsive support.