| 1. |
- Benkel, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Challenging conversations with terminally ill patients and their loved ones: Strategies to improve giving information in palliative care
- 2014
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Ingår i: SAGE Open Medicine. - : SAGE Publications. - 2050-3121. ; 2:2050312114532456
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the skills and strategies employed by professionals when having difficult conversations to provide information to loved ones as part of palliative care. Method: A qualitative design was chosen with in-depth interviews with nurses, assistant nurses and doctors a Hospital in Sweden and were analysed using content analysis. Results: The interviews produced examples of strategies used by professionals when imparting difficult information to patient and loved ones. The results fell into three areas: ‘Who is giving information’, ‘Structuring the conversation’ and ‘Different ways to convey a difficult message’. Conclusion: Using conversational skills and strategies in combination with a carefully planned structure appeared to facilitate difficult conversations with patients and loved ones. Further research is required, related to the specific circumstances in which the conversation takes place.
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| 2. |
- Benkel, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Hospital staff opinions concerning loved ones' understanding of the patient's life-limiting disease and the loved ones' need for support
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Palliative Medicine. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1096-6218 .- 1557-7740. ; 15, s. 51-55
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of nurses, assistant nurses, and doctors about whether the patient's loved ones understand that the patient has a life-limiting disease, and if they talk about these matters with the patient or staff. The study was quantitative in design with data collected by means of a semi-structured questionnaire. The study was conducted at geriatric, oncology, and urology wards at a university hospital in western Sweden. Results indicate a perception that loved ones understand the seriousness and consequences of the disease. Professional caregivers perceived an association between the loved ones' understanding of the fatal disease and their ability to cope with the situation. In addition, the study found that follow-up activities after the patient's death are mostly lacking. © 2012, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Benkel, Inger
(författare)
-
Loved ones within Palliative Care-understanding, strategies and need for support
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It is well known that during the palliative process both patient and loved ones have to face, and prepare themselves, for the patient´s approaching death. Their daily life will be marked by the disease, and physical, social, psychological and existential questions will arise. Increased knowledge about being a loved one involved in palliative care could provide important guidance for the professional staff to enabling them to support the loved ones in finding new ways of living after the patient´s death. The aim of the thesis was to increase knowledge of what it can be to be a loved one involved in palliative care from the perspective of understanding what is going on, strategies used and support needed. The studies used both qualitative and quantitative methods, in the form of in-depth interviews and questionnaires with open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used, in the analysis. The results show that the understanding of loved ones depended on information given in various ways during the disease process. The information could be gained either explicitly from health-care staff or implicitly from everyday conversation between themselves and the patient or throughout the progression of the disease. The loved ones used different types of strategies to cope with the situation and to be able to meet the patient in the current situation. The professional carers opinion was that the more informed and aware the loved ones were about the patient´s disease the more they were able to cope with the situation. Information was helpful both in preparing for and during the bereavement. Need for support after the patient´s death, depended on how they managed the bereavement process, together with the kind of relation they had had with the dead person. The personal network was the most important source of support in contrast to professional support which was mainly needed when the personal network for some reason failed or when the grief became complicated. The professional carers opinion was that they could provide the support the loved ones needed during the patient´s hospital stay but rarely after the patient had died. The healthcare system has to find methods to support the loved ones both during the time of the patient´s illness as well as during the bereavement process, for those who need such support.
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| 5. |
- Benkel, Inger, et al.
(författare)
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Using coping strategies are not denial: helping the loved ones to adjust living with a patient with a palliative diagnose.
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Palliative Medicine. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1096-6218 .- 1557-7740. ; 13:9, s. 1119-1123
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: When a patient receives the diagnosis of an incurable cancer, their loved ones have to face the fact that life will change. Realizing that the time together is with someone who is going to die, loved ones have to cope with the situation. Objective: The objective of this study was to increase the knowledge concerning what forms of coping strategies loved ones apply when a family member is faced with an incurable cancer. Design: The study had a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews as data from a sample of consecutive loved ones. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a manifest content analysis. Results: The main findings showed that the strategies used by loved ones could be categorized into four different areas: thinking that the death is far off in the future; hoping for an improvement; living in the present; and utilizing the family and personal network. The loved ones used these strategies in order to learn to live with the fact that their spouse had been diagnosed with an incurable illness. Conclusion: The study shows that the manner in which the coping strategies are used is individual and also depends on how loved ones can cope with the concept of a dying person with whom they are very close. When loved ones have a need for support outside their personal network, it is important to understand that this need is directly related to coping strategies and that it is not a result of denial.
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