scholarly journals Aesthetic expressions as data in researching the lived-world of children with advanced cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Lyn Galvez ◽  
Waraporn Kongsuwan ◽  
Savina O. Schoenhofer ◽  
Urai Hatthakit
Keyword(s):  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Special Method ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
School Activities ◽  
Education Hub ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Aesthetic Expression

Background: Understanding the true world of children needs a special method. Using aesthetic expressions through artworks with reflections assists nurse researchers in exploring children’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in relation to their health and well-being. Objective: This article focuses on the use of aesthetic expressions as innovative data sources in a study of the lived worlds of children experiencing advanced cancer. Method: The use of aesthetic expressions in Gadamerian hermeneutic phenomenology and aesthetics, by means of van Manen’s approach using draw and write, is examined as a suitable approach in a study of the lived worlds of children experiencing advanced cancer. Results: The aesthetic expressions through the Draw-and-Write method of data generation were well-suited to a hermeneutic phenomenological study involving the group of Filipino children living with advanced cancer. The children drew images and figures of themselves, their families, classmates, friends, and teachers in several places and events during the series of two days. The drawings showed their facial expressions, home, parents, hospital stay, school activities, extracurricular activities, and other daily activities. Conclusion: Aesthetic expression linked to art and connected to human experience drew the participants into different realms and expanded their perceptual capacities so that the fullness of the meaning of the experience was appreciated. The understanding of the experience through aesthetic expression provided sensitivity to and awareness of the variation of experience among children with advanced cancer. It is hoped that this paper can contribute to an understanding of aesthetic expressions as pathways to understanding and support health professionals as they embark on their goal of creating or restoring a comfortable relationship with children.  Funding: This study obtained a research scholarship grant from Thailand Education Hub for ASEAN Countries (TEH-AC).

Mediation of Coping Strategies among Patients with Advanced Cancer

2021 ◽  
pp. 105477382110032
Author(s):  
Nurul Huda ◽  
Yun-Yen ◽  
Hellena Deli ◽  
Malissa Kay Shaw ◽  
Tsai-Wei Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Correlational Research ◽  
Resampling Procedure ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this study was to test the mediating effects of coping on relationships of psychological distress and stress with anxiety, depression, and quality of life. A cross-sectional and correlational research study was used to recruit a sample of 440 patients with advanced cancer in Indonesia. A bootstrap resampling procedure was used to test the significance of the total and specific indirect effects of coping. Data analysis showed that problem-focused coping (PFC) mediated relationships of psychological distress and stress on depression, anxiety and functional well-being. PFC also mediated the relationship between stress and social well-being. Emotional-focused coping (EFC) mediated the relationship of stress with physical and emotional well-being. EFC also mediated the relationships between psychological distress and physical well-being. Thus, proper assessments and interventions should be tailored and implemented for patients in order to facilitate their use of coping strategies when needed in stressful situations.

scholarly journals Quality of life support in advanced cancer—web and technological interventions: systematic review and narrative synthesis

2021 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002820
Author(s):  
Kathleen Kane ◽  
Fiona Kennedy ◽  
Kate L Absolom ◽  
Clare Harley ◽  
Galina Velikova
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Narrative Synthesis ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Technological Interventions ◽  
Cancer Trajectory ◽  
Interactive Health Communication

BackgroundAs treatments continue to progress, patients with advanced cancer are living longer. However, ongoing physical side-effects and psychosocial concerns can compromise quality of life (QoL). Patients and physicians increasingly look to the internet and other technologies to address diverse supportive needs encountered across this evolving cancer trajectory.Objectives1. To examine the features and delivery of web and technological interventions supporting patients with advanced cancer. 2. To explore their efficacy relating to QoL and psychosocial well-being.MethodsRelevant studies were identified through electronic database searches (MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, Web of Science and ProQuest) and handsearching. Findings were collated and explored through narrative synthesis.ResultsOf 5274 identified records, 37 articles were included. Interventions were evaluated within studies targeting advanced cancer (13) or encompassing all stages (24). Five subtypes emerged: Interactive Health Communication Applications (n=12), virtual programmes of support (n=11), symptom monitoring tools (n=8), communication conduits (n=3) and information websites (n=3). Modes of delivery ranged from self-management to clinically integrated. Support largely targeted psychosocial well-being, alongside symptom management and healthy living. Most studies (78%) evidenced varying degrees of efficacy through QoL and psychosocial measures. Intervention complexity made it challenging to distinguish the most effective components. Incomplete reporting limited risk of bias assessment.ConclusionWhile complex and varied in their content, features and delivery, most interventions led to improvements in QoL or psychosocial well-being across the cancer trajectory. Ongoing development and evaluation of such innovations should specifically target patients requiring longer-term support for later-stage cancer.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018089153.

“God, why?”: The Experience of Mothers from the Israeli Ultra-Orthodox Sector after their Child’s Disclosure of Sexual Abuse

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110219
Author(s):  
Aiala Szyfer Lipinsky ◽  
Limor Goldner
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Drawing Task ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological ◽  
Qualitative Phenomenological Study

Studies dealing with the experiences of non-offending mothers from the general population and minority groups after their child’s disclosure of sexual abuse are scarce, and studies on mothers from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community are non-existent. This study takes an initial step in filling this gap by exploring how the normalization of sexual abuse shapes these mothers’ experiences. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted on a sample of 21 mothers from the ultra-Orthodox sector whose children had been sexually abused. It consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews of the mothers followed by a drawing task on their experience. The analysis of the interviews yielded four central themes: the role of social stigmatization and religion on the mother’s ability to share her child’s abuse; the effect of the disclosure on the mothers’ mental state and maternal competency; the mothers’ ongoing experience in the shadow of this unprocessed/unresolved trauma; and the mothers’ coping strategies, including acceptance, faith, and meaning making. The findings highlight the influence of the tension between the need to adhere to religious norms and preserve the social fabric and the need to enhance mothers’ and children’s well-being.

Spiritual issues and needs: Perspectives from patients with advanced cancer and nonmalignant disease. A qualitative study

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH GRANT ◽  
SCOTT A. MURRAY ◽  
MARILYN KENDALL ◽  
KIRSTY BOYD ◽  
STEPHEN TILLEY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Nonmalignant Disease

Objective: Health care professionals and policy makers acknowledge that spiritual needs are important for many patients with life-limiting illnesses. We asked such patients to describe their spiritual needs and how these needs may impinge on their physical, psychological, and social well-being. Patients were also encouraged to explain in what ways their spiritual needs, if they had any, could be addressed.Methods: We conducted two qualitative interviews, 3 months apart, with 20 patients in their last year of life: 13 patients with advanced cancer and 7 with advanced nonmalignant illness. We also interviewed each patient's general practitioner. Sixty-six interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed.Results: Patients' spiritual needs centered around their loss of roles and self-identity and their fear of dying. Many sought to make sense of life in relation to a nonvisible or sacred world. They associated anxiety, sleeplessness, and despair with such issues, which at times resulted in them seeking support from health professionals. Patients were best able to engage their personal resources to meet these needs when affirmed and valued by health professionals.Significance of results: Enabling patients to deal with their spiritual needs through affirmative relationships with health professionals may improve quality of life and reduce use of health resources. Further research to explore the relationship between spiritual distress and health service utilization is indicated.

Assessment of Quality of Life in Outpatients With Advanced Cancer: The Accuracy of Clinician Estimations and the Relevance of Spiritual Well-Being—A Hoosier Oncology Group Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 2754-2759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Fisch ◽  
Michael L. Titzer ◽  
Jean L. Kristeller ◽  
Jianzhao Shen ◽  
Patrick J. Loehrer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Performance Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Therapeutic Trial ◽  
Slight Variation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Spiritual Well Being

Purpose: To evaluate the association between quality-of-life (QOL) impairment as reported by patients and QOL impairment as judged by nurses or physicians, with and without consideration of spiritual well-being (SWB). Patients and Methods: A total of 163 patients with advanced cancer were enrolled onto a therapeutic trial, and cross-sectional data were derived from clinical and demographic questionnaires obtained at baseline, including assessment of patient QOL and SWB. Clinicians rated the QOL impairment of their patients as mild, moderate, or severe. Clinician-estimated QOL impairment and patient-derived QOL categories were compared. Correlation coefficients were estimated to associate QOL scores using different instruments. The analysis of variance method was used to compare Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General scores on categorical variables. Results: There was no significant association between self-assessment scores and marital status, education level, performance status, or predicted life expectancy. However, a strong relationship between SWB and QOL was noted (P < .0001). Clinician-estimated QOL impairment matched the level of patient-derived QOL correctly in approximately 60% of cases, with only slight variation depending on the method of categorizing patient-derived QOL scores. The accuracy of clinician estimates was not associated with the level of SWB. Interestingly, a subset analysis of the inaccurate estimates revealed an association between lower SWB and clinician underestimation of QOL impairment (P = .0025). Conclusion: Clinician estimates of QOL impairment were accurate in more than 60% of patients. SWB is strongly associated with QOL, but it is not associated with the overall accuracy of clinicians’ judgments about QOL impairment.

Violation and hope: Refugee survival in childhood and beyond

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Lynne McCormack ◽  
Brigitta Tapp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
New Host ◽  
Life Philosophy

Background: The psychological complexity of refugee status for children is poorly understood. Alone or with family members, child refugees are exposed to multiple and potentially traumatic events, including conflict and human rights deprivation in their country of origin, perilous and life-threatening escape journeys, years of statelessness, and isolation and discrimination in their new host country. Aims: This phenomenological study explored the positive and negative interpretations of four adults as they sought to make sense of their experiences of refugee status as children. Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) guided the development of semi-structured interview for data collection and analysis. Results: One superordinate theme, Violation and Hope, overarched three subordinate themes, Violent detachment, Refugee identity, and Resourcefulness and reciprocity. One divergent theme also emerged: Clashing identities. These themes provide unique insight into the interpreted experiences of escaping oppression and persecution in each participant’s country of origin as children, and the ensuing bleak interval as refugees, belonging nowhere. They identify the risk of becoming pawns of opportunism without human rights protection. Once stateless, survival was not guaranteed, producing a stark merging of acceptance of mortality and determined resourcefulness as children. Avoidant coping became a positive tool for surviving ever present threat, and was crucial in defining a life philosophy that was future oriented as they entered adulthood. Conclusion: These participants rejected a ‘refugee victim’ identity, emphasising a legacy of resourcefulness, hope, gratitude and reciprocity, domains of post-traumatic growth which are unreported aspects of refugee well-being that can provide future therapeutic and research direction.

scholarly journals In praise of creativity

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 21-23
Author(s):  
Nicola Watson
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Aesthetic Expression

The new EAD Early Learning Goals invite practitioners to refocus on optimising children's creativity through oral, aural, cultural and aesthetic expression – thereby enhancing their holistic well-being.

scholarly journals Professional support during the postpartum period: Primiparous women’s views on professional services, their expectations, and barriers to mobilizing professional help

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Nan ◽  
Jingjun Zhang ◽  
Nisar Anum ◽  
Lanting Huo ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Professional Services ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Health Centres ◽  
Primiparous Women ◽  
Women’S Views

Abstract Background: Mothers of young infants, especially primiparous women who lack experience and knowledge, are usually overwhelmed with a multitude of stressors and challenges. Although support from professionals is needed for new mothers, there is indeed a gap between the necessary high-quality service and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore primiparous women’s views on professional services, identify barriers to mobilizing professional support, and further understand women’s expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services. Method: A descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous women who were selected from two community health centres and who had given birth within one year before the interview. Each conversation lasted between 20-86 minutes. Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological approach was used for data analysis. Results: Three major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfaction with current professional services for postpartum women, (b) barriers to mobilizing professional support, and (c) primiparous women’s expectations of professional support. Seven related subthemes included primiparous women’s disappointment with clinical services and their low confidence in services provided by communities, social health centres and online platforms; internal personal reasons and external socio-cultural factors that contributed to barriers in obtaining professional help; and primiparas’ new expectations of baby-care-related services, their personal needs for recovery, and their expectations of methods of services delivery. The necessity of professional support in the first month of confinement was emphasized by primiparas. Online methods were perceived by the majority of participants to be the best way to receive services. Conclusion: The results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the professional services currently provided by medical facilities were insufficient and could not meet the requirements of primiparous women. The identified barriers should be analysed and overcome by enhancing education and eliminating stigma. The results also suggested that providing service focused on women’s requirements may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous women’s well-being and suggested that women believed that the most acceptable and convenient methods should be considered during the delivery of interventions.

Assessing hope at the end of life: Validation of an experience of hope scale in advanced cancer patients

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHERYL L. NEKOLAICHUK ◽  
EDUARDO BRUERA
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Symptom Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Validity Evidence ◽  
Advanced Cancer Patients ◽  
Factor I ◽  
Factor Ii

Objective:The purpose of this study was to gather validity evidence for an innovative experience of hope scale, theHope Differential-Short (HDS), and evaluate its clinical utility for assessing hope in advanced cancer patients.Methods:A consecutive sampling approach was used to recruit 96 patients from an inpatient tertiary palliative care unit and three hospice settings. Each participant completed an in-person survey interview, consisting of the following measures: HDS (nine items), Herth Hope Index (HHI), hope visual analog scale (Hope-VAS) and Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS).Results:Using factor analytic procedures, a two-factor structure for the HDS was identified, consisting ofauthentic spirit(Factor I) andcomfort(Factor II). The HDS factors had good overall internal consistency (α = 0.83), with Factor I (α = 0.83) being higher than Factor II (α = 0.69). The two factors positively correlated with the HHI, Hope-VAS, and one of the ESAS visual analog scales, well-being (range: 0.38 to 0.64) and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety, as measured by the ESAS (range: −0.25 to −0.42).Significance of results:This is the first validation study of the HDS in advanced cancer patients. Its promising psychometric properties and brief patient-oriented nature provide a solid initial foundation for its future use as a clinical assessment measure in oncology and palliative care. Additional studies are warranted to gather further validity evidence for the HDS before its routine use in clinical practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document