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Journal of Health Psychology Mar 2019In palliative care, a biopsychosocial-spiritual model is essential to address the patient in totality. Spirituality is often a relevant issue in such settings, yet there...
In palliative care, a biopsychosocial-spiritual model is essential to address the patient in totality. Spirituality is often a relevant issue in such settings, yet there is a need to differentiate spirituality from religion. Spirituality in palliative care focuses on the psychological and spiritual aspects of care, helping to relieve the physical, emotional, social and spiritual distresses of the patient, family members and healthcare professionals, produced in such conditions. Psychologists, according to their ethical responsibilities, may include the assessment of their patients' spiritual needs in therapy, as it will help to identify the patients' values, belief systems, spiritual history, distress and needs. All patients have different needs, some may need religious/spiritual guidance, in collaboration with spiritual care workers, and others may not demonstrate needs regarding these issues. The essential is that each patient is treated as a 'whole', addressing his physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.
Topics: Humans; Palliative Care; Spirituality
PubMed: 27531369
DOI: 10.1177/1359105316664138 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2022An increased incidence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) has been reported in many countries. However, the prevalence and impact factors of...
An increased incidence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) has been reported in many countries. However, the prevalence and impact factors of psychological distress and resilience in patients with GEP-NETs are unclear. We recruited 200 patients with GEP-NETs to assess psychological distress and resilience. Measures comprised the Distress Thermometer, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience scale and Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire. Our results found that the prevalence of distress, anxiety, depression and low resilience were 31.5%, 31%, 17.8%, and 25.9%, respectively. Female patients were more likely to be distressed, as were those with NET Grade 1, were partly aware of diagnosis, and had known the diagnosis less than 3 months. Distress positively correlated with acceptance-resignation, and resilience positively correlated with confrontation and avoidance. Resilience negatively correlated with psychological distress. Patients coping disease with acceptance-resignation had higher odds of anxiety, depression, and low resilience. Our findings indicate that psychological distress and low resilience were common in patients with GEP-NETs. This suggests a need to integrate psychosocial domain into GEP-NETs clinical practice.
Topics: Female; Humans; Intestinal Neoplasms; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Psychological Distress; Resilience, Psychological
PubMed: 36465662
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.947998 -
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management Feb 2022Parents of patients with a serious illness experience psychological distress, which impacts parents' wellbeing and, potentially, their ability to care for their...
CONTEXT
Parents of patients with a serious illness experience psychological distress, which impacts parents' wellbeing and, potentially, their ability to care for their children. Parent psychological distress may be influenced by children's symptom burden and by families' financial difficulty.
OBJECTIVES
This study examined the associations among parent psychological distress, parent-reported patient symptoms, and financial difficulty, seeking to determine the relative association of financial difficulty and of patient symptoms to parent psychological distress.
METHODS
Cross-sectional study of baseline data for 601 parents of 532 pediatric palliative care patients enrolled in a prospective cohort study conducted at seven US children's hospitals. Data included self-reported parent psychological distress and parent report of child's symptoms and family financial difficulty. We used ordinary least squares multiple regressions to examine the association between psychological distress and symptom score, between psychological distress and financial difficulty, and whether the degree of financial difficulty modified the relationship between psychological distress and symptom score.
RESULTS
The majority of parents were moderately to severely distressed (69%) or severely distressed (17%) and experienced some degree of financial difficulty (65%). While children's symptom scores and family financial difficulty together explained more of the variance in parental psychological distress than either variable alone, parental distress was associated more strongly, and to a larger degree, with financial difficulty than with symptom scores alone.
CONCLUSIONS
Parent psychological distress was associated with parent-reported patient symptoms and financial difficulty. Future work should examine these relationships longitudinally, and whether interventions to improve symptom management and ameliorate financial difficulties improve parental outcomes.
Topics: Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Family; Humans; Palliative Care; Prospective Studies; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 34425212
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.08.004 -
PloS One 2021The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly altered the routine of life and caused unanticipated changes resulting in severe psychological responses and mental health crisis....
PURPOSE
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly altered the routine of life and caused unanticipated changes resulting in severe psychological responses and mental health crisis. The study aimed to identify psycho-social factors that predicted distress among Indian population during the spread of novel Coronavirus.
METHOD
An online survey was conducted to assess the predictors of distress. A global logistic regression model was built, by identifying significant factors from individual logistic regression models built on various groups of independent variables. The prediction capability of the model was compared with the random forest classifier.
RESULTS
The respondents (N = 1060) who are more likely to be distressed, are in the age group of 21-35 years, are females (OR = 1.425), those working on site (OR = 1.592), have pre-existing medical conditions (OR = 1.682), do not have health insurance policy covering COVID-19 (OR = 1.884), have perceived seriousness of COVID-19 (OR = 1.239), have lack of trust in government (OR = 1.246) and whose basic needs' fulfillment are unsatisfactory (OR = 1.592). The ones who are less likely to be distressed, have higher social support and psychological capital. Random forest classifier correctly classified 2.3% and 17.1% of people under lower and higher distress respectively, with respect to logistic regression.
CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the prevalence of high distress experienced by Indians at the time of COVID-19 and provides pragmatic implications for psychological health at macro and micro levels during an epidemiological crisis.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Female; Humans; India; Male; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Prevalence; Psychological Distress; Social Support; Stress, Psychological; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 34347847
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255683 -
Nursing Ethics Sep 2021Ethical climate and moral distress have been shown to affect nurses' ethical behaviour. Despite the many ethical issues in paediatric oncology nursing, research is still...
BACKGROUND
Ethical climate and moral distress have been shown to affect nurses' ethical behaviour. Despite the many ethical issues in paediatric oncology nursing, research is still lacking in the field.
RESEARCH AIM
To investigate paediatric oncology nurses' perceptions of ethical climate and moral distress.
RESEARCH DESIGN
In this cross-sectional study, data were collected using Finnish translations of the Swedish Hospital Ethical Climate Survey-Shortened and the Swedish Moral Distress Scale-Revised. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics and non-parametric analyses.
RESPONDENTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT
Ninety-three nurses, working at paediatric oncology centres in Finland, completed the survey.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
According to Finnish legislation, no ethical review was needed for this type of questionnaire study. Formal research approvals were obtained from all five hospitals. Return of the questionnaire was interpreted as consent to participate.
RESULTS
Ethical climate was perceived as positive. Although morally distressing situations were assessed as highly disturbing, in general they occurred quite rarely. The situations that did appear often reflected performing procedures on school-aged children who resist such treatment, inadequate staffing and lack of time. Perceptions of ethical climate and frequencies of morally distressing situations were inversely correlated.
DISCUSSION
Although the results echo the recurrent testimonies of busy work shifts, nurses could most often practise nursing the way they perceived as right. One possible explanation could be the competent and supportive co-workers, as peer support has been described as helpful in mitigating moral distress.
CONCLUSION
Nurturing good collegial relationships and developing manageable workloads could reduce moral distress among nurses.
Topics: Attitude of Health Personnel; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Medical Oncology; Morals; Neoplasms; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 33706607
DOI: 10.1177/0969733021994169 -
Acta Neurochirurgica Dec 2021The patients' burden with asymptomatic meningiomas and patients with good clinical outcome after meningioma resection often remains neglected. In this study, we aimed to...
PURPOSE
The patients' burden with asymptomatic meningiomas and patients with good clinical outcome after meningioma resection often remains neglected. In this study, we aimed to investigate the longitudinal changes of psychological distress and quality of life in these patient groups.
METHODS
Patients with conservatively managed (CM) or operated (OM) meningiomas and excellent neurological status, who were screened for psychological distress during the follow-up visit (t1), were included. We performed a follow-up mail/telephone-based survey 3-6 months (t2) after t1. Distress was measured using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Distress Thermometer (DT), 36-item Short Form (SF-36), and Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI).
RESULTS
Sixty-two patients participated in t1 and 47 in t2. The number of patients reporting increased or borderline values remained high 3 months after initial presentation, with n = 25 (53%) of patients reporting increased anxiety symptom severity and n = 29 (62%) reporting increased depressive symptom severity values. The proportion of distressed patients according to a DT score remained similar after 3 months. Forty-four percent of patients reported significant distress in OM and 33% in CM group. The most common problems among distressed patients were fatigue (t2 75%) and worries (t2 50%), followed by pain, sleep disturbances, sadness, and nervousness. Tumor progress was associated with increased depression scores (OR 6.3 (1.1-36.7)).
CONCLUSION
The level of psychological distress in asymptomatic meningiomas and postoperative meningiomas with excellent outcome is high. Further investigations are needed to identify and counsel the patients at risk.
Topics: Anxiety; Depression; Humans; Meningeal Neoplasms; Meningioma; Quality of Life; Stress, Psychological; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 34643803
DOI: 10.1007/s00701-021-05004-w -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) May 2021We examined longitudinal differences in the severity of distress, depression, anxiety, and concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19 during the first two months of this...
We examined longitudinal differences in the severity of distress, depression, anxiety, and concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19 during the first two months of this pandemic, correlations between these variables, and interactions of distress with significant sociodemographics across waves. A longitudinal online survey was conducted in the State of Mexico, from 8 April to 27 May, 2020, in a sample of men and women between 18 and 60 years old, using: Impact of Event Scale-6, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, General Anxiety Disoder-7, and a questionnaire of concerns and behaviors related to COVID-19. Six hundred seventy participants were analyzed. Only a mild difference in distress was observed between the two waves and mild correlations of this variable with contagion in oneself and in a relative. Having a high-risk medical condition proved a considerable effect on distress within both waves. Perception of usefulness of preventive measures, concerns of contagion in a relative, and financial and security situations scored high within our questionnaire but did not change in the follow-up. We hypothesize that habituation to distressful events in the Mexican population (emergent resilience) might explain the absence of meaningful differences. Our research adds to the monitoring of mental health in Mexicans during the COVID-19 pandemic; its findings can serve to perform comparisons in other studies and for further meta-analyses.
PubMed: 34068274
DOI: 10.3390/bs11050076 -
Journal of Psychosomatic Research Feb 2023We investigated the incidence (becoming distressed at the follow-up) and persistence (distressed at the baseline and the follow-up) of psychological distress among...
OBJECTIVES
We investigated the incidence (becoming distressed at the follow-up) and persistence (distressed at the baseline and the follow-up) of psychological distress among individuals with and without disability in the period from early 2017 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) to late 2020 (the second wave of the pandemic).
METHODS
We analyzed the population-based FinHealth 2017 survey and its follow-up conducted in 2020 (number of individuals who participated in both surveys: n = 4881; age = 18+). Logistic regressions were applied to investigate differences in the incidence and persistence of psychological distress between people with and without disability. We also investigated whether age, quality of life at the baseline, and perceived increase in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic moderated the association between disability and the incidence of distress.
RESULTS
The incidence of psychological distress was higher (OR = 3.01, 95% CI:2.09-4.35) for people with disability (18.9%) than among those without (7.4%), being highest (31.5%) among the youngest participants with disability, aged 18 to 39. People with disability who had a poor quality of life at the baseline were particularly prone to become distressed during the follow-up. People who reported perceived increase in loneliness during the pandemic were prone to become distressed at the follow-up regardless of their disability status. The persistence of distress was more common (OR = 6.00, 95% CI:3.53-10.12) among people with disability (65.7%) than among those without (24.9%).
CONCLUSION
The COVID-19 pandemic had more negative mental health effects on people with disability, especially adults with disability who were young and had a low quality of life before the pandemic.
Topics: Adult; Humans; COVID-19; Pandemics; Quality of Life; Incidence; Disabled Persons; Psychological Distress
PubMed: 36610334
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.111127 -
Hormones and Behavior Jul 2023Comforting is a crucial form of prosocial behavior that is important for maintaining social unity and improving the physical and emotional well-being of social species.... (Review)
Review
Comforting is a crucial form of prosocial behavior that is important for maintaining social unity and improving the physical and emotional well-being of social species. It is often expressed through affiliative social touch toward someone in distress, providing relief for their distressed state. In the face of increasing global distress, these actions are paramount to the continued improvement of individual welfare and the collective good. Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for promoting actions focused on benefitting others is particularly important and timely. Here, we review prosocial comforting behavior, emphasizing synthesizing recent studies carried out using rodent models. We discuss its underlying behavioral expression and motivations, and then explore both the neurobiology of prosocial comforting in a helper animal and the neurobiology of stress relief following social touch in a recipient as part of a feedback loop interaction.
Topics: Animals; Social Behavior; Touch; Motivation; Emotions; Altruism
PubMed: 37301130
DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105391