Survivors' Needs and Stories After Organizational Disasters: How Organizations Can Facilitate The Coping Process

11021 Background: Clinicians frequently discuss death and dying with patients who have cancer. However, the doctor-patient hierarchy and the unfamiliar clinical environment may prevent these patients from discussing death and dying authentically. Patients may feel more comfortable expressing themselves when given the time and space to write at home. Firefly, an award-winning program at UCSF, facilitates written correspondence between patients with cancer and medical students over the course of one year. Firefly’s archive contains thousands of patient letters and constitutes a unique resource for analyzing authentic patient expression outside of the clinical context. The aim of the current study is to improve curricula pertaining to severe illness and end-of-life by providing educators with an analysis of authentic patient perspectives about death and dying expressed in these letters. Methods: We (two medical students, an expressive artist, and an oncologist) read all Firefly letters written by patients between 2014 and 2019 and identified 12 patients whose letters meaningfully discussed death or dying. We performed a thematic analysis of these letters using the Buckman three-stage model of dying as a reference. Results: Four themes emerged: turmoil; grief; making peace; and past, present and future. The first three themes aligned with the Buckman stages. The fourth theme—past, present and future—spanned the three stages and also elaborated the Buckman model by describing multiple paths that patients may take after passing through these stages. Conclusions: The authentic ways in which patients with cancer discussed death and dying in their letters provided deep insight into their coping process. The Buckman model appears useful for framing death and dying from the patient perspective but may not fully reflect modern oncologic care in which many patients live for years beyond a severe or terminal diagnosis. Educators can use the identified themes to shape medical school curricula pertaining to severe illness and end-of-life care.

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Unemployment Normalization: Its Effect on Mental Health During Various Stages of Unemployment

Psychological Reports ◽

10.1177/0033294118794410 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 122 (5) ◽

pp. 1600-1617 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Steve Thill ◽

Claude Houssemand ◽

Anne Pignault

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

General Health ◽

Job Loss ◽

First Year ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Positive Perception ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Coping Process ◽

Normalization Process

The negative effects of job loss on mental health have been thoroughly described in the literature. However, different fluctuations in mental health during the unemployment period have been noticed. We argue that a coping process takes place in this kind of situation. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of the unemployment normalization process on mental health during various stages of unemployment. Participants ( N = 803) completed the General Health Questionaire-12 and the Unemployment Normalization Questionnaire. Results showed that a negative perception of unemployment had the greatest impact on mental health during the different phases of unemployment. Nevertheless, during the first year, having a positive perception counteracted these negative effects, and after 1 year, the unemployment norm took over the role of buffering against the negative effects on mental health. These results indicate that unemployment is still perceived as negative, but depending on the stage of unemployment, various coping strategies are used to buffer the negative consequences of unemployment.

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The potential role of network-oriented interventions for survivors of violence among refugees in Belgium

10.21203/rs.2.11464/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Emilomo Ogbe ◽

Alaa Jbour ◽

Ladan Rahbari ◽

Maya Unnithan ◽

Olivier Degomme

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Service Providers ◽

Repeat Victimization ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Coping Process ◽

New Findings ◽

Open Coding ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender ◽

Domestic Violence Survivors

Abstract Introduction Social support and social network members have been identified as an important factor in mitigating the effects of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and improving the coping process for many survivors. Network oriented strategies have been advocated for among domestic violence survivors, as they help build on improving social support and addressing factors that alleviate repeat victimization. There are opportunities to implement such strategies among refugees, who are survivors of SGBV in asylum centres, however, this has not been fully explored. This study sought to identify key strategies and opportunities for developing peer-led and network-oriented strategies for mitigating the effects of SGBV among refugees at these centres. Methods: 27 interviews, were conducted with service providers (n=14) and refugees (n=13) at three asylum centres in Belgium. Deductive coding was performed independently by two researchers based on pre-identified research questions, when new findings emerged outside the themes, open coding was done. Data triangulation was used with findings from observations at these centres over a period of a year. Findings: Many of the refugees presented with PTSD or psychosomatic symptoms, because of SGBV or other trauma experienced during migration. Peer and family support were very influential in mitigating the effects and social costs of violence among the refugees by providing emotional and material support. Social assistants were viewed as an information resource that was essential for most of the refugees. Peer-peer support was identified as a potential tool for mitigating the effects of SGBV

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Compassion and Self-compassion: Conceptualization of and Application to Adjustment to Disability

Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling ◽

10.1891/0047-2220.48.2.15 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 15-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Susan Stuntzner

Keyword(s):

Rehabilitation Counseling ◽

Rehabilitation Counselors ◽

Adjustment Process ◽

Emotional Pain ◽

Persons With Disabilities ◽

Process Adjustment ◽

Self Compassion ◽

Coping Process ◽

Negative Thoughts ◽

Adjustment To Disability

For many, disability may ignite feelings of grief, sadness, loss, and/or emotional pain. Others discover they harbor negative or self-critical thoughts and beliefs (i.e., blame) which compounds and complicates the personal coping process. Adjustment to disability models exist to help persons with disabilities and professionals understand or explain their negative thoughts, feelings, and experiences; yet, they do not overtly discuss or address emerging skills and approaches such as compassion and selfcompassion as a part of the disability adjustment process. In an effort to change this trend, an eclectic theoretical model which infuses self-compassion and compassion-based techniques has been developed. Rehabilitation counselors are provided with an explanation of the ways existing research on compassion and self-compassion can be used to strengthen their application to the adjustment needs of persons with disabilities. Information about how to incorporate compassion and self-compassion into the rehabilitation counseling adjustment process and recommendations are also provided.

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Development of Constructive Coping Scale

International Journal of Indian Psychology ◽

10.25215/0903.154 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Ms. Nambiar Veena Chindankutty ◽

Dr. S. Vinod Kumar

Keyword(s):

Item Analysis ◽

Population Sample ◽

Rank Correlation ◽

Measurement Scale ◽

Stressful Event ◽

Postgraduate Students ◽

Spearman’S Rank Correlation ◽

Coping Process ◽

Coping Processes ◽

Coping Scale

The present study aimed to develop a measurement scale for constructive coping, which is a significant concept in the coping process. Constructive coping refers to efforts to deal with a stressful event that is considered relatively healthy. Therefore, understanding the relationship between coping processes and adaptation outcomes has become a major concern among stress researchers. The items were designed in the form of statements on a Five-Point Likert scale. The population sample included postgraduate students between 20 and 23 years old. A sample size of 511 was considered, of which 357 were females and 154 males. Item analysis was performed using Mathew Item Analysis table and item selection was performed using the highest correlation values (Phi) and medium P values. The final scale consists of twenty-one items for which Split-Half Reliability, as well as validity using coefficients of Pearson and Spearman’s Rank correlation, were calculated respectively.

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