-
Annals of Palliative Medicine Jan 2018In this article, I do not intend to present the many and well-known treatments for relieving pain and distress symptoms of the physical body, damaged by terminal... (Review)
Review
In this article, I do not intend to present the many and well-known treatments for relieving pain and distress symptoms of the physical body, damaged by terminal diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis. In this article, I'd rather focus my attention on clinical hypnosis for subjects who, freed from physical pain, thanks to palliative care, are open to receiving comfort and support for their psychological and spiritual suffering. The intent of this article is to express how clinical hypnosis can harmoniously integrate psychological and spiritual aspects so that the terminal patient can make peace with his/her past, with the people who have hurt him/her, and with the people who will suffer because of his/her death. This article will present some hypnotic suggestions inspired by universal wisdom of the Stoics, by positive psychology of Mindfulness, by laws of nature regarding changes, differences and mysteries. The basic assumption of the suggestions presented is that, if disease is an enemy to fight, death is an inevitable part of life: it cannot be avoided, or postponed or exchanged with anybody. It arrives when we have finished living. When death is preceded by an incurable disease, palliative care can offer a mantle of compassion and acceptance of what cannot be avoided. The words palliative comes from the Latin pallium-mantle. This article also presents some suggestions I have utilized several times with my patients. These suggestions have demonstrated their efficacy in alleviating patients' suffering in coping with their disease and in facing death.
Topics: Emotional Adjustment; Humans; Hypnosis; Mindfulness; Palliative Care; Quality of Life; Spiritual Therapies; Spirituality; Terminally Ill
PubMed: 29156894
DOI: 10.21037/apm.2017.07.07 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2020Recent emergent research is seriously questioning whether parental strictness contributes to children's psychosocial adjustment in all cultural contexts. We examined...
Recent emergent research is seriously questioning whether parental strictness contributes to children's psychosocial adjustment in all cultural contexts. We examined cross-generational differences in parental practices characterized by warmth and practices characterized by strictness, as well as the relationship between parenting styles (authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian, and neglectful) and psychosocial adjustment in adulthood. Parenting practices characterized by warmth (affection, reasoning, indifference, and detachment) and strictness (revoking privileges, verbal scolding, and physical punishment) were examined. Psychosocial adjustment was captured with multidimensional self-concept and well-being (life satisfaction and happiness). Participants were 871 individuals who were members of three generations of Spanish families: College students (G3), their parents (G2), and their grandparents (G1). Results showed two different cross-generational patterns in parenting practices, with an increased tendency toward parental warmth (parents use more affection and reasoning but less indifference across generations) and a decreased tendency toward parental strictness (parents use revoking privileges, verbal scolding, and physical punishment less across generations). Interestingly, despite cross-generational differences in parenting practices, a common pattern between parenting styles and psychosocial adjustment was found: indulgent parenting was related to equal or even better self-concept and well-being than authoritative parenting, whereas parenting characterized by non-warmth (authoritarian and neglectful) was related to poor scores.
Topics: Adult; Child; Child Rearing; Emotional Adjustment; Family Characteristics; Female; Humans; Male; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Personality; Self Concept
PubMed: 33076230
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17207487 -
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Feb 2024As Western societies become more ethnically and culturally diverse, understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is essential for fostering social cohesion. How...
As Western societies become more ethnically and culturally diverse, understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is essential for fostering social cohesion. How the cultural identity formation of ethnic minority adolescents relates to their academic, social, and psychological adjustment is an important and as yet unresolved research question. This study examined to what extent identifying with the heritage and/or host culture is an individual resource or risk factor for the adjustment of immigrant youth in Germany. A random sample of 15-17-year-olds (N = 1992; M = 15.3 years, SD = 0.64; 44.5% girls; 44.7% students with immigrant background) was assessed twice: at the end of 9th and 10th grade. Academic performance and three dimensions of social/psychological adjustment (school attachment, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) were examined. Results showed that biculturalism was the modal identification pattern. Contrary to expectations, cultural identification did not differ systematically with perceived distance from the majority culture. Multivariate structural equation modeling revealed that both heritage and host identification can be developmental resources, but that their effects are dependent on the dimension of adjustment; biculturalism only proved to be a cumulative resource for school attachment. The domain specificity of the findings challenges the generalization claims of predominant acculturation theories.
Topics: Female; Humans; Adolescent; Male; Emotional Adjustment; Social Identification; Ethnicity; Minority Groups; Emigration and Immigration; Social Adjustment; Emigrants and Immigrants; Acculturation
PubMed: 37715861
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01853-z -
Maturitas Dec 2023Cancer is one of the main noncommunicable diseases in terms of health impact. Factors such as a progressively aging population point to future increases in the incidence... (Review)
Review
Cancer is one of the main noncommunicable diseases in terms of health impact. Factors such as a progressively aging population point to future increases in the incidence of cancer on a global level. The elevated number of affected individuals, together with continuous improvements in cancer prevention and therapy, is creating a growing population of cancer survivors, with often inadequately met needs. Lifestyle is a key modulator of cancer risk and of associated morbidity and mortality, and is included in all approaches to the long-term management of cancer. Diet is a principal component of lifestyle, and most of the available evidence is centered on the Mediterranean diet. Our objective was to provide a narrative review of the evidence on the effect of the Mediterranean diet on cancer risk and health threats related to cancer survivorship. For this purpose, we searched the PubMed database for articles published between January 1, 2000, and June 12, 2023. Current data show that the Mediterranean diet is inversely associated with risk, or is risk neutral, for most types of cancer. Tumors of the digestive system have received preferential interest, but studies have also been published on tumors in other organs. The evidence, however, is meager due to the observational nature of most studies, although it is reassuring that benefit is reproduced in studies performed in different populations and environments. Evidence related to cancer survivors is limited by the paucity of studies, yet several findings regarding survival, recurrence, and short- and long-term morbidity suggest a potential role for the Mediterranean diet that warrants further research.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Diet, Mediterranean; Survivorship; Neoplasms; Risk; Cancer Survivors
PubMed: 37660598
DOI: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2023.107841 -
European Archives of... Mar 2017The objective is to clarify whether social support and acquisition of alternative voice enhance the psychological adjustment of laryngectomized patients and which part...
The objective is to clarify whether social support and acquisition of alternative voice enhance the psychological adjustment of laryngectomized patients and which part of the psychological adjustment structure would be influenced by social support. We contacted 1445 patients enrolled in a patient association using mail surveys and 679 patients agreed to participate in the study. The survey items included age, sex, occupation, post-surgery duration, communication method, psychological adjustment (by the Nottingham Adjustment Scale Japanese Laryngectomy Version: NAS-J-L), and the formal support (by Hospital Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-25: HPSQ-25). Social support and communication methods were added to the three-tier structural model of psychological adjustment shown in our previous study, and a covariance structure analysis was conducted. Formal/informal supports and acquisition of alternative voice influence only the "recognition of oneself as voluntary agent", the first tier of the three-tier structure of psychological adjustment. The results suggest that social support and acquisition of alternative voice may enhance the recognition of oneself as voluntary agent and promote the psychological adjustment.
Topics: Adult; Aftercare; Aged; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Humans; Japan; Laryngectomy; Male; Middle Aged; Postoperative Complications; Social Support; Speech, Alaryngeal; Surveys and Questionnaires; Voice Disorders
PubMed: 27687680
DOI: 10.1007/s00405-016-4310-0 -
Annals of Behavioral Medicine : a... Aug 2023The experience of cancer can create considerable emotional distress for patients and their committed partners. How couples communicate about cancer-related concerns can...
BACKGROUND
The experience of cancer can create considerable emotional distress for patients and their committed partners. How couples communicate about cancer-related concerns can have important implications for adjustment. However, past research has primarily utilized cross-sectional designs and retrospective self-reports of couple communication. While informative, little is known about how patients and partners express emotion during conversations about cancer, and how these emotional patterns predict individual and relational adjustment.
PURPOSE
The current investigation examined how patterns of emotional arousal within couples' communication about cancer was associated with concurrent and prospective individual psychological and relational adjustment.
METHODS
At baseline, 133 patients with stage II- breast, lung, or colorectal cancer and their partners completed a conversation about a cancer-related concern. Vocally expressed emotional arousal (f0) was extracted from recorded conversations. Couples completed self-report measures of individual psychological and relational adjustment at baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 months later.
RESULTS
Couples who started the conversation higher in f0 (i.e., greater emotional arousal) reported better individual and relational adjustment at baseline. If the non-cancer partner had lower f0 relative to patients, this predicted worse individual adjustment across follow-up. Additionally, couples who maintained their level of f0 rather than decreasing later in the conversation reported improvements in individual adjustment across follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS
Elevated emotional arousal within a cancer-related conversation may be adaptive for adjustment, as it may reflect greater emotional engagement and processing of an important topic. These results may suggest ways for therapists to guide emotional engagement to enhance resilience in couples experiencing cancer.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Arousal; Communication; Emotional Adjustment; Expressed Emotion; Family Characteristics; Family Relations; Follow-Up Studies; Neoplasms; Resilience, Psychological; Sound Recordings; Voice; Family Support
PubMed: 37178456
DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaad017 -
International Journal of Qualitative... Dec 2021This study aimed to explore and describe existential experiences after cancer treatment.
PURPOSE
This study aimed to explore and describe existential experiences after cancer treatment.
METHOD
An exploratory phenomenological hermeneutical design was used following in-depth interviews with 21 people.
RESULTS
The study revealed experiences of multifaceted suffering in the form of limitations in everyday life, inner struggles, and bearing the burden alone.
CONCLUSIONS
Existential suffering after cancer treatment was revealed as like being in a process of transition, in an intermediate state, as moving between suffering and enduring, and alternating between alienworld and homeworld. A new and broader professional perspective is needed to establish rehabilitation services based on multifaceted experiences of suffering. This means a shift in focus from biomedical symptoms towards understanding of existential meaning for the person.
Topics: Existentialism; Hermeneutics; Humans; Neoplasms; Qualitative Research; Survivorship
PubMed: 34775931
DOI: 10.1080/17482631.2021.2001897 -
Seminars in Oncology Nursing Apr 2022This article reviews how childhood cancers and related treatments affect bone integrity. Interventions related to exercise, hormone replacement, vitamin D and calcium... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
This article reviews how childhood cancers and related treatments affect bone integrity. Interventions related to exercise, hormone replacement, vitamin D and calcium supplementation, and bisphosphonate use are addressed.
DATA SOURCES
Literature was reviewed related to childhood cancers, treatment and side effects, assessment, and management to optimize bone health.
CONCLUSIONS
Cure rates of childhood cancer have dramatically improved due to new therapeutic advances allowing children diagnosed with cancer to live longer. Unfortunately, the cost of cure can be the increased development of chronic health issues. Since many children receive their treatment, including antineoplastic agents, radiation, surgery, and corticosteroid therapy, during time of active skeletal maturation and growth, their bone health may be negatively impacted. The development of bone mass can be impaired, bone density may be decreased, fractures may occur, growth may be restricted, and there may be poor bone repair. Review of the data indicates that more research is needed to understand what is necessary for optimal bone health in the pediatric population in general, specifically for the child affected by cancer.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Nurses are integral to the development of comprehensive understanding of the bone health needs of the pediatric oncology patient population and educating the patient and family about the importance of bone health. Children and young adult survivors would benefit from collaborative care between all their health care providers. Steps to improve bone health before diagnosis, on treatment, and through to survivorship remain to be addressed by future research.
Topics: Bone Density; Child; Humans; Medical Oncology; Neoplasms; Survivors; Survivorship; Young Adult
PubMed: 35491332
DOI: 10.1016/j.soncn.2022.151275 -
BMC Gastroenterology Feb 2018Chronic abdominal pain is a common worldwide problem and known to be associated with psychological problems. This study evaluated the association between abdominal...
BACKGROUND
Chronic abdominal pain is a common worldwide problem and known to be associated with psychological problems. This study evaluated the association between abdominal pain-predominant functional gastrointestinal disorders (AP-FGIDs), psychological maladjustment and personality traits in adolescents.
METHODS
Adolescents aged 13-18 years were recruited from 5 randomly selected schools in Ampara district of Sri Lanka. AP-FGIDs were diagnosed using Rome III criteria. Translated and validated Rome III questionnaire (Child report form), personality questionnaire (PAQ) and PedsQL (Pediatric Quality of Life) inventory were used in data collection. Written consent was obtained from a parent and assent was obtained from every child recruited. The questionnaire was distributed in an examination setting to ensure confidentiality and privacy. Research assistants were present during data collection to assist on any necessary clarifications.
RESULTS
A total of 1697 subjects were recruited [males 779 (45.9%), mean age 15.1 years, SD 1.6 years]. AP-FGIDs were present in 202 (11.9%). Those with AP-FGIDs had significantly higher mean scores for all personality traits (hostility and aggression, negative self-esteem, emotional unresponsiveness, emotional instability and negative world view), except dependency. Affected children had lower scores for all 4 domains of HRQoL (physical, emotional, social and school functioning), compared to controls (p < 0.05). When the cut off value for Sri Lankan children (89) was used, 66.3% with AP-FGIDs and 48.2% controls had PAQ scores within that of psychological maladjustment (p < 0.001). When the international normative value of 105 was used, these percentages were 27.2% and 14.2% respectively (p < 0.0001). The scores obtained for PAQ negatively correlated with scores obtained for HRQoL (r = - 0.52, p < 0.0001). One hundred and seventeen adolescents with AP-FGIDs (57.9%) had sought healthcare for their symptoms. Healthcare consulters had higher PAQ and lower HRQoL scores (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents with AP-FGIDs have more psychological maladjustment and abnormal personality traits than healthy controls. Affected adolescents with higher psychological maladjustments have lower HRQoL. Greater psychological maladjustment and lower HRQoL are associated with healthcare seeking behaviour in adolescents with AP-FGIDs.
Topics: Abdominal Pain; Adolescent; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Humans; Male; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Personality; Prevalence; Quality of Life; Sri Lanka; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 29486708
DOI: 10.1186/s12876-018-0760-8 -
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders Aug 2022Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivorship results in unique issues in return to physical and psychological function. The purpose of the study was to compare recovery... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Physical function, psychological adjustment, and self-efficacy following sudden cardiac arrest and an initial implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in a social cognitive theory intervention: secondary analysis of a randomized control trial.
BACKGROUND
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivorship results in unique issues in return to physical and psychological function. The purpose of the study was to compare recovery across the first year between SCA survivors and other arrhythmia patients who received a first-time implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for secondary prevention, participating in a social cognitive theory (SCT) intervention.
METHODS
168 (129 males, 39 females) who received an ICD for secondary prevention (SCA N = 65; other arrhythmia N = 103) were randomized to one of two study conditions: SCT intervention (N = 85) or usual care (N = 83). Outcomes were measured at baseline hospital discharge, 1, 3, 6, & 12 months: (1) Physical Function: Patient Concerns Assessment (PCA), SF-36 (PCS); (2) Psychological Adjustment: State Trait Anxiety (STAI), CES-D depression, SF-36 (MCS); (3) Self-Efficacy: Self-Efficacy (SCA-SE), Self-management Behaviors (SMB), Outcome Expectations (OE). Outcomes were compared over 12 months for intervention condition x ICD indication using general estimating equations.
RESULTS
Participants were Caucasian (89%), mean age 63.95 ± 12.3 years, EF% 33.95 ± 13.9, BMI 28.19 ± 6.2, and Charlson Index 4.27 ± 2.3. Physical symptoms (PCA) were higher over time for SCA survivors compared to the other arrhythmia group (p = 0.04), ICD shocks were lower in SCA survivors in the SCT intervention (p = 0.01); psychological adjustment (MCS) was significantly lower in SCA survivors in the SCT intervention over 6 months, which improved at 12 months (p = 0.05); outcome expectations (OE) were significantly lower for SCA survivors in the SCT intervention (p = 0.008).
CONCLUSIONS
SCA survivors had greater number of physical symptoms, lower levels of mental health and outcome expectations over 12 months despite participation in a SCT intervention. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT04462887.
Topics: Aged; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Defibrillators, Implantable; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Heart Arrest; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Psychological Theory; Self Efficacy
PubMed: 35948889
DOI: 10.1186/s12872-022-02782-8