| 1. |
- Olsson, Louise
(författare)
-
Hopp hos döende patienter med cancer i palliativ hemsjukvård
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Hope is meaningful and very important for people – even for people at the last days of their lives. Health professionals can sometimes describe hope in terms of hope for a cure, which may lead to feelings of hopelessness or empty hope for a patient with an incurable disease. In research, there is very little written about hope in the palliative home care context, even more so from the patient’s perspective. The aim of this project was to study how hope changes over time in cancer patients at the palliative phase, and to study the strategies used to cope with these changes. This was studied from the patients’ own perspective and in a home care context, but with the ambition of developing the results into a model or theory.Grounded Theory was the chosen research approach. Two sets of tape-recorded interviews were made with 11 patients in specialized palliative home care – a total of 20 interviews. The patients were also asked to write diaries about changes in their everyday feelings of hope within a 4-week period. Measurements of hope (HHI-S) and symptoms (ESAS) were also made at three occasions. Constant comparison of data was made during the analysis.The results showed that patients’ hope changed over time. Hope was described as a process involving a glimmering core of hope untouched by external circumstances (Study I). Hope was described in different processes, creation of a convinced hope, creation of simulated hope, collection and maintaining moments of hope and gradually extinct hope. The dying patient’s hope can be described as a gradual and successive adaptation process. Strategies for maintaining life were expressed to preserve the meaning in life, to communicate with others about life and death, to involve "fellow travelers" and to change focus. The strategy of preparing for death involved; taking responsibility for the future and seeing possibilities of living on even after death (Study II). The strategies were parallel to, and dependent on each other. It is important that health professionals understand the patient’s own strategies for maintaining life/hope, as well as the patient’s own preparations for death, so that hope is never taken away despite preparations at the end of life.In summary, hope can be interpreted as a changing process over time – a process that can change quickly, but is based on an inviolable core that is not easily moved by external circumstances. It is important that the health care personnel realize that patients simultaneously prepare for their deaths even as they try to maintain hope. Deeper understanding of what hope can mean for a patient can decrease the risk of hope being taken away during one’s final days.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ring Jacobsson, Lisa, 1959-
(författare)
-
Daily life experiences, symptoms and well being in women with coeliac disease : A patient education intervention
- 2011
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aims: Despite living with a gluten-free diet (GFD) Swedish women with coeliac disease (CD) report a lower level of well-being than women without the disease and than men with the disease. The aims of this thesis were to describe the life experience of being a woman living with CD (I) and to assess the effects of patient education (PE) with problem based learning (PBL) on psychological well-being (II) and gastrointestinal symptoms (III).Subjects and methods: In total 106 women, > 20 years, with confirmed CD, who had been treated with a GFD for a minimum of five years were randomized (II&III) to one of two groups: either to the intervention group (n=54) that underwent a ten-session educational program, called ‘Coeliac School’, with PBL, or to a control group (n=52) that received information regarding CD, which was sent to their home on a regular basis.Assessments: Well-being (II & III) (the Psychological General Well-Being index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale) was assessed at baseline and after 10 weeks in all patients and after 6 months in the intervention group. Individual interviews (I) were carried out with purposefully selected women (n=15) before the start of the‘Coeliac School’.Result: The qualitative study showed that CD can influence women’s lives in different ways. A desire for a normalised life-world was described. Three conditions necessary to achieve a normalised life-world were described as: being secure, being in control and being seen and included. After ten weeks of education, participants in the “Coeliac school” reported a significant improvement in psychological well-being (p=0.001) and gastrointestinal symptoms (p=0.013). The controls did not improve significantly. However, at baseline the controls, for reasons which were not apparent, and despite randomization, expressed significantly better psychological well-being and fewer gastrointestinal symptoms than women in the intervention group. Six months after completion of the PE program some of its positive effect had decreased.Conclusions: A PE with PBL can help women with CD to benefit from a greater degree of well-being. It is important to offer PE to those women who fail to achieve a normalised lifeworld. However, intervention methods need to be refined in order to provide a more pronounced long-term effect.
|
|
| 3. |
- Ring Jacobsson, Lisa, 1959-
(författare)
-
Perspectives on living with coeliac disease in remission : Daily life experiences, symptoms and well-being
- 2015
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aims: Despite living with a gluten-free diet (GFD) Swedish women with coeliac disease (CD) report a lower level of well-being than women without the disease and men with the disease. The all-embracing aim of the thesis was to study experiences of living with coeliac disease in remission and to discover whether a patient education intervention can influence the perceived health and daily life of women with coeliac disease.Methods: Studies I-IV were based on the same sample, a total population of 106 women, > 20 years old, with confirmed CD, who had been treated with a GFD for a minimum of five years. From the total population of 106, 15 and 14 purposefully selected women were included in studies I and IV respectively, which had a phenomenological approach by which data was collected through recorded personal narrative interviews. The participants in studies II & III, comprising the total sample of 106 women, were randomized to one of two groups: either to the intervention group (n=54) that underwent a ten-session patient education (PE) program with problem based learning (PBL), or to a control group (n=52) that received information regarding CD, which was sent to their home on a regular basis. Data was collected by self-administered questionnaires. Study V included 22 purposefully selected people (11 women and 11 men) with confirmed CD that had experienced any kind of residual discomfort despite treatment for at least five years with a GFD. Data was collected by recorded semistructured interviews.Well-being (II-III) was assessed at baseline and after 10 weeks in all patients and after six months in the intervention group using the Psychological General Well-Being index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale. The interviews (I & IV), which were carried out before the start of the PE (I) and within two weeks of completion of the PE program and about three months after the first interview (IV), were analysed with descriptive phenomenology. The data from study V was analysed by content analysis.Results: In the results, the experience of living with CD in remission was described by participants as a constant quest for a normal life (I, V). Three constituents representing conditions necessary to achieve a normalised lifeworld were described (I) as: being secure, being in control, and being seen and included. The balance of thoughts in relation to these constituents proved to be crucial for the individual woman’s ability to experience a normal life, despite the disease. Participants described (V) conditions facilitating the opportunities to live a normal life, but also various barriers to reaching this goal.The results from the PE based on PBL (II-III) showed that the PE improved psychological well-being (II) and GI (III) in women with CD to some extent, but not sufficiently as the improvement reached normative values for women only at 10 weeks regarding PGWB mean total index, and at no point in time regarding GSRS mean total index. The effect had waned at the follow-up six months after the intervention was completed as regards the women’s psychological well-being. In coping with CD, it seems essential for women to interact with others with the same disease (IV). The interaction made women feel individually strengthened, and provided them with a broader perspective on life with CD. As a result, this strengthened their sense of self in relation to the disease. Knowledge given by other participants and experts could result in both relief and anxiety.The results from the PE based on PBL (II-III) showed that the PE improved psychological well-being (II) and GI (III) in women with CD to some extent, but not sufficiently as the improvement reached normative values for women only at 10 weeks regarding PGWB mean total index, and at no point in time regarding GSRS mean total index. The effect had waned at the follow-up six months after the intervention was completed as regards the women’s psychological well-being. In coping with CD, it seems essential for women to interact with others with the same disease (IV). The interaction made women feel individually strengthened, and provided them with a broader perspective on life with CD. As a result, this strengthened their sense of self in relation to the disease. Knowledge given by other participants and experts could result in both relief and anxiety.
|
|
| 4. |
- Erichsén, Eva, 1959-
(författare)
-
Constipation in palliative care : Prevalence, definitions, symptom distress and risk-factors
- 2015
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background and aims: Constipation for patients in palliative care is common and described with variations in prevalence. Side -effects from opioid- treatment, is considered to be one of the main factors leading to constipation. The overall aim of the thesis was to study constipation among patients admitted to specialized palliative care- settings in Sweden. The specific aims of the thesis were 1) To describe and explore the prevalence, definition and symptom distress of constipation by applying different definitions of constipation, in patients admitted to specialized palliative care settings in Sweden. 2) To identify factors related to constipation in patients in specialized palliative care and comparing these factors for patients with different types of constipation to patients without constipation.Methods: A literature- search were conducted where prevalence of- and factors related to constipation was explored and included in a questionnaire, developed for this thesis. Data was collected in a cross- sectional design with a response rate of 50% and analysed with logistic regression.Results: A total of 485 patients from 38 specialized palliative care- units in Sweden participated. Prevalence of constipation for patients in specialized palliative care varied between 7- 43 % depending on definition used. Two different constipation- groups were identified: Medical constipation- group 23% (MCG) and Perceived constipation- group 35% (PCG). Three sub- groups was also identified: patients with i) only ≤ 3 defecations/week, 7%, ii) only perception of being constipated, 19%, and iii) patients with both ≤ 3 defecations/ week and perception of being constipated,16%. Several factors were found to be related to constipation as hospitalisation, absence of laxative- treatment, haemorrhoids, poor appetite, hard stool form and opioids.Conclusions: Prevalence of constipation may differ depending on definitions used. Distress from constipation and other factors related to constipation, than opioids, needs to be incorporated into the clinical constipation- assessment. Validated constipation assessment tool needs to be developed.
|
|
| 5. |
- Hjelmfors, Lisa, 1984-
(författare)
-
Communication about the Heart Failure Trajectory in Patients, their Families and Health Care Professionals
- 2018
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Introduction: There is an increasing awareness in the field of cardiology regarding the need for improved delivery of palliative care in patients with heart failure (HF). Professional guidelines have drawn attention to the importance of discussing the heart failure trajectory with patients and their families. These discussions can include, for example, talking about the prognosis, expectations for the future, and care at the end-of-life. It seems difficult for health care professionals to choose the right time for initiating these discussions. They often avoid these conversations because they are afraid of taking away hope and make the patients and their families anxious.Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to improve communication about the heart failure trajectory in patients, their families, and health care professionals.Design and methods: This thesis includes five studies using different designs and data collection methods. Study I has a cross-sectional design using a questionnaire to collect data to describe heart failure nurses’ perceptions of and practice in discussing prognosis and end-of-life care with heart failure patients. Study II has a descriptive and comparative design, where a survey was performed to describe Swedish and Dutch heart failure nurses’ reasons for discussing or not discussing prognosis and end-of-life care with patients. Study III has an inductive and exploratory design, where HF patients participated in focus groups or individual interviews. Data was collected based on their perceptions of communication about the heart failure prognosis. Study IV was a small-scale ethnographic study describing and evaluating the delivery of a simulation when teaching third-year nursing students about end-of-life care at a Swedish university. Study V used co-design in which patients with HF from primary care, their family members and health care professionals (physicians and nurses) from palliative and HF care were invited to be constructive participants in the design process of a communication intervention. Health care professionals participated in a first feasibility testing of the intervention.Results: Most Swedish HF nurses had discussed prognosis (96%) and end-of-life care (84%) with a HF patient at some point in clinical practice. The nurses often reported that a physician was to have the main responsibility for such discussions (69%), but that the nurse was also believed to have a role to play (I). Prognosis and end-of-life care were, together with sexual activity, () the three least frequently discussed topics in HF clinics in both Sweden and the Netherlands (II). In conversations with 1,809 Swedish and Dutch HF patients, prognosis was discussed with 38% of the patients and end-of-life care was discussed with 10%. In study III, patients expressed different experiences of and preferences for communication about their HF prognosis. Many patients described that the health care professionals had not provided them with any prognosis information at all. The patients had different understandings of HF as a chronic illness, which had an impact on their preferences for communication about their prognosis (III). The simulation training described in the ethnographic study (IV) was part of an end-of-life care simulation during the last term of the 3- year bachelor degree level nursing education program, where students learn and practice basic palliative care. The students felt that the simulation training was a good opportunity to practice handling end-of- life situations as it gave them a chance to experience this situation and their own feelings and thoughts on death and dying. In study V, an intervention to improve communication about prognosis and end-of-life care in HF care was developed and some areas were feasibility tested. Heart failure patients, their families and health care professionals working in HF care or palliative care participated in the development process. Health care professionals (nurses and physicians) participated in the following feasibility testing of the intervention.Conclusions: This thesis shows that prognosis and end-of-life care are seldom discussed with HF patients in Swedish and Dutch heart failure care. and that many heart failure nurses have ambiguous attitudes towards discussing these topics with patients and their families (I+II). The patients described that they receive different messages concerning their heart failure, and that they also have different preferences for discussing the heart failure trajectory with health care professionals. The professionals need to understand the impact of heart failure on each patient and adapt the communication to each individual (III). End-of-life care simulation with skilled supervisors shows great promise for health care professionals to learn good communication skills in end-of-life care conversations (IV). A Question Prompt List and a communication course might be useful for improving communication about the heart failure trajectory in patients, their families, and health care professionals
|
|
