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- Browall, Maria, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Health care staff's opinions about existential issues among patients with cancer.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Palliative & supportive care. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1478-9523 .- 1478-9515. ; 8:1, s. 59-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore health care staff's opinions about what existential issues are important to patients with cancer and staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by patients. METHOD: Four focus group interviews were conducted with health care staff (N = 23) at an in-patient hospice, on an oncology ward, on a surgical ward, and with a palliative home health care team. The focus group interviews focused on two questions, first, about health care staff's opinions about patients' important existential questions and, second, about health care staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised by the patient. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by qualitative content analysis into subcategories and categories. RESULTS: Four categories and 11 subcategories emerged from the first question. The first category, "life and death," was based on joy of living and thoughts of dying. The second category "meaning," consisted of acceptance, reevaluation, hope, and faith. The third category, "freedom of choice," consisted of responsibility and integrity, and the fourth and last category, "relationships and solitude," consisted of alleviation, dependency, and loss. One category emerged from the second question about the health care staff's responsibility, "to achieve an encounter," which was based on the subcategories time and space, attitudes, and invitation and confirmation. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The strength of this study was that the findings were fairly congruent in different settings and in different geographical areas. Health care staff were aware of the importance of existential issues to patients. The existential issues, mentioned by health care staff, are similar to findings from studies conducted among patients, which is another strength of the present study. Health care staff are also confident about how to act when these issues are raised by the patients. The challenge for the future is to implement the findings from this study among health care staff in different settings.
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| 2. |
- Henoch, Ingela, 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Development of a training intervention of existential support to patients with cancer.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society’s 2nd European Regional Conference i Göteborg, Sverige, 2014-06-16 – 06-18..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Existential issues in patients with cancer need to be highlighted, but a literature review revealed lack of intervention studies suitable for support in existential crisis in daily healthcare. Aim: To develop and evaluate an intervention targeting existential issues in patients with cancer. Method: First, patients’ important existential issues were defined through a literature review and found to be supporting and detrimental existential issues. Secondly, focus group interviews with healthcare staff working with patients with cancer identified their patients’ existential issues as life and death, meaning, freedom, and relationships and solitude. The healthcare staff furthermore recognized their responsibility to achieve an encounter with the patients, but seemed to need more training in delivering existential support. Thereafter, the intervention was designed as training with individual and group reflections to healthcare staff concerning meaning, death, freedom, and loneliness with five sessions held biweekly. Prior to the training, the staff wrote critical incidents in which existential issues were brought up. The main outcome was determined to be the staff’s confidence in communication. Another potential outcome was the staff’s attitude to care for dying patients. The design was pilot-tested in a surgical clinic. Results: The main intervention study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial with 102 registered nurses and enrolled nurses from hospice, oncology clinic and palliative homecare team. The confidence in communication increased significantly in the training group from baseline to both first and the second follow-ups, whereas attitudes to care for dying patients did not change. Conclusion: Although positive outcome, the project needs to be further tested, to establish the stability of the intervention, broadening the subject groups, and exploring possible extension of the training. In the next step patients’ and staff’ perceptions of given support will be explored.
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| 3. |
- Henoch, Ingela, 1956, et al.
(författare)
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Patients’, family members’ and healthcare staffs’ opinions about existential issues as a base for an educational intervention
- 2011
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Ingår i: BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. - : BMJ. - 2045-4368 .- 2045-435X. ; 1:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To explore patients', family members' and healthcare staff's opinions about existential issues important to patients with cancer and their relatives. Methods Two integrative literature reviews were conducted about existential issues among cancer patients and relatives, and interventions to meet these issues. Four focus groups were conducted with healthcare staff working with cancer patients at different stages about patients' existential issues, and staff's responsibility when existential issues are raised. Results In the patient review, existential issues were divided into two themes: struggle to maintain self-identity and threats to self-identity. Relatives' existential issues concerned living both in and beyond the presence of death, with reminders of death, compelling them to respond to life close to death and seek support. Few interventions directed to patients or relatives applicable to everyday healthcare practice were found. Focus groups with staff revealed four categories of patients' existential issues, life and death, meaning, freedom of choice, relationships and solitude. According to staff, their responsibility concerned achieving an encounter with the patient. Conclusion Results from three studies are congruent in that, patients, relatives and staff agree, although in different ways, about the importance of existential issues to patients and relatives. Healthcare staff was aware of the importance of existential issues and are to some extent confident about how to act when these issues are raised by the patients. Ongoing studies The project group now continues implementing findings from these studies in an educational intervention to healthcare staff in different settings, and planning interventions to patients and relatives.
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