Therapeutic Relationships and Stigma

Objective To examine the causes of variation for determining clinical eligibility for a national caregiver programme in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and so help inform standardization of clinical eligibility assessment for support and establish conditions for more consistent caregiver experiences across the country. Methods We used mixed methods, including a national survey of caregiver support coordinators (CSCs) across VHA medical centres, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 53 CSCs and interdisciplinary team members, and observations of four VHA medical centre sites. Results A majority (70%) of CSCs across VHA medical centres reported that they used interdisciplinary teams to conduct assessments. Interdisciplinary teams were seen to help mitigate potential harm to therapeutic relationships from eligibility decisions. Survey respondents reported using a range of assessment tools provided by the national VHA Caregiver Support Program office, but participants expressed concerns that the tools did not necessarily effectively assess clinical need. Some local sites had developed innovative person-centered approaches, in which the assessment process provided an opportunity to assess veterans’ holistic clinical needs, in contrast to a programme-centered approach, which focused on assessing whether veterans/their caregivers meet eligibility criteria. Conclusion Discretion by those involved in making decisions on programme eligiblity is important for implementing a national social services programme based on clinical need. Interdisciplinary teams can help mitigate potential harm to therapeutic relationships. Discretion allows for innovation. This work has implications for setting policy in other programme contexts in which applying eligibility criteria requires clinical judgment.

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Perceived Coercion of Persons with Mental Illness Living in a Community

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052290 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2290

Author(s):

Min Hwa Lee ◽

Mi Kyung Seo

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Therapeutic Relationship ◽

Psychosocial Functioning ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Therapeutic Relationships ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Perceived Coercion ◽

Clinical Variables ◽

People With Mental Illness

Aims: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the perceived coercion of people with mental illness living in a community on their therapeutic satisfaction and life satisfaction, mediated by therapeutic relationships. Methods: We evaluated several clinical variables (symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and insight), levels of perceived coercion, therapeutic relationships, therapeutic satisfaction, and life satisfaction in 185 people with mental illness (Mean age = 47.99, standard deviation (SD) = 12.72, male 53.0%, female 45.9%) who live in the community and use community-based mental health programs. The data collected were analyzed to test the proposed hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: The correlation analysis of all variables showed that clinical variables had statistically significant correlations with therapeutic relationship, therapeutic satisfaction, and life satisfaction, but no significant correlation with perceived coercion. Furthermore, perceived coercion was found to have significant predictive power for treatment satisfaction and life satisfaction mediated by therapeutic relationship. Specifically, the lower the perceived coercion, the better the therapeutic relationship. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the therapeutic satisfaction and life satisfaction of participants. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest strategies to minimize coercion in a community.

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Assisting People With Their Living, Not Their Dying: Health Professionals’ Perspectives of Palliative Care and Opioids in ILD

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® ◽

10.1177/10499091211018664 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 104990912110186

Author(s):

Lauren Russo ◽

Karen Willis ◽

Natasha Smallwood

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Health Care ◽

Palliative Care ◽

Health Care System ◽

Therapeutic Relationships ◽

Specialist Palliative Care ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Symptom Palliation ◽

Care System

Objectives: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a debilitating and life-limiting condition, requiring multi-disciplinary care. While guidelines recommend early specialist palliative care referral to improve symptoms and quality of life, few patients access such care towards the end-of-life. This study aimed to explore clinicians’ perspectives regarding specialist palliative care and opioids to understand barriers to optimal care and guide clinical practice improvement initiatives. Methods: A cross-sectional, exploratory, qualitative study was undertaken with Australian respiratory clinicians caring for people with ILD (n = 17). In-depth, semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded. Thematic analysis was undertaken to extrapolate recurring ideas from the data. Results: Four themes were identified: 1) understanding how to improve patient care and support, 2) the need to dispel stigmatized beliefs and misconceptions, 3) the importance of trusted relationships and good communication and 4) the challenges of navigating the health-care system. Participants discussed the need to implement early specialist palliative care and symptom palliation to alleviate symptoms, provide emotional support and augment quality of life. Participants described challenges accessing palliative care and opioids due to stigmatized beliefs amongst patients and clinicians and difficulties navigating the health-care system. Trusted therapeutic relationships with patients and strong inter-disciplinary partnerships with collaborative education and communication were perceived to improve patients’ access to symptom palliation. Conclusion: Specialist palliative care and opioids were believed to improve patients’ quality of life, however, many barriers can make accessing such care challenging. To address these issues, multi-disciplinary collaboration, high-quality communication and trusted therapeutic relationships are crucial throughout the ILD illness journey.

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