The Spiritual Nature of Uncertainty Among Hospice Patients

Reflective Journaling as Preparation for Spiritual Care of Patients

Death is a human experience; however, an understanding of dying, grief, and loss continues to elude many cultures, even more elusive is the understanding of complicated grief for families and burnout for providers caring for the dying patient and their families. To prepare students taking care of dying patients and their families, the Catalyzing Relationships at the End of Life program included addressing perceptions of one's own death through journal reflection. The Catalyzing Relationships at the End of Life program utilized journals to ascertain student understanding of issues surrounding family communication at the end of life. Journal reflections were embedded in an online learning management system and utilized structured prompts as the journaling method. These prompts addressed what students desire for their own family relationships during their own death. Results from the qualitative descriptive analysis included 4 themes: meaning, beliefs, connections, and good death. Reflections about their own death were a powerful experience for student participants. Although questions about spirituality were not specifically asked, themes relating to spirituality emerged from the data.

Understanding the palliative care needs and experiences of people with mesothelioma and their family carers: An integrative systematic review

BACKGROUND

People with mesothelioma and their families have palliative care needs throughout the relatively short trajectory of their illness.

AIM

To describe the palliative care needs and experiences of people with mesothelioma and their family carers.

DESIGN

Integrative systematic review with narrative synthesis (PROSPERO: CRD42020190115).

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library were searched for articles published between 01 January 2000 and 10 May 2020. Articles were included if they presented empirical studies or comprehensive reviews including information about the palliative care needs and experiences of people with mesothelioma and their family carers.

RESULTS

The search yielded 508 articles, 14 were included in the analysis. A cross cutting theme of 'uncertainty' was identified encompassing five themes: (1) organisation and co-ordination of services, (2) communication and information needs, (3) management of care needs and high symptom burden, (4) consideration of the impact of seeking compensation and (5) family carer needs. Our findings demonstrate that people with mesothelioma want a co-ordinated, team-based approach to palliative care with a named point of contact. Whilst carers value and benefit from early referral to specialist palliative care, this does not necessarily reflect the outcomes and views of patients.

CONCLUSION

The evidence base around the palliative care needs and experiences of people with mesothelioma and their carers needs to be strengthened. The results of this review support the need to develop a greater understanding about the role non-specialist palliative care clinicians' play in providing generalist palliative care for people with mesothelioma and their carers.

INCERTIDUMBRE FRENTE AL DIAGNÓSTICO DE CÁNCER

RESUMEN Objetivo: describir el significado de la experiencia frente al diagnóstico de cáncer en la construcción de la realidad individual y subjetiva desarrollada. Método: estudio cualitativo con enfoque fenomenológico hermenéutico, desarrollado en una unidad de cáncer, en cuatro mujeres y dos hombres, con diferentes diagnósticos de cáncer. Las entrevistas, recogidas entre enero y marzo de 2016, fueron grabadas y para el análisis se empleó el Análisis de la Fenomenología Interpretativa y la Teoría de la Incertidumbre de Mishel. Resultados: la incertidumbre es una vivencia que invade a la persona con enfermedad crónica. Emergen temas acerca del Desconocimiento/conocimiento; El personal de salud y familiar, un soporte para enfrentar el diagnóstico y no desfallecer; Actitud positiva; Sufrimiento ante la adversidad; Aferrándose a Dios y La adversidad del sistema de salud. Conclusión. todos los pacientes vivieron el período de incertidumbre en un principio como peligro, pero, emprendieron esfuerzos de afrontamiento manifestadas por sentimientos de optimismo y actitud positiva, dirigida a reducir la incertidumbre y a controlar la excitación emocional generada por su diagnóstico.