scholarly journals The liminal space palliative care volunteers occupy and their roles within it: a qualitative study

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. e28-e28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Vanderstichelen ◽  
Joachim Cohen ◽  
Yanna Van Wesemael ◽  
Luc Deliens ◽  
Kenneth Chambaere
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Liminal Space ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Performance Barriers ◽  
Being There ◽  
Home Day Care

ObjectivesVolunteers have an important place in palliative care (PC), positively influencing quality of care for seriously ill people and those close to them and providing a link to the community. However, it is not well understood where volunteers fit into PC provision or how to support them adequately. We therefore chose to describe volunteer roles across care settings through the perspective of those closely involved in the care of terminally ill people.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted using both focus groups with volunteers, nurses, psychologists and family physicians and individual semistructured interviews with patients and family caregivers. Participants were recruited from hospital, home, day care and live-in services.Results79 people participated in the study. Two volunteer roles were identified. The first was ‘being there’ for the dying person. Volunteers represent a more approachable face of care, focused on psychological, social and existential care and building relationships. The second was the ‘liaison’ role. Volunteers occupy a liminal space between the professional and the family domain, through which they notice and communicate patient needs missed by other caregivers. Patient-volunteer matching was a facilitator for role performance; barriers were lack of communication opportunities with professional caregivers and lack of volunteer coordination.ConclusionVolunteers complement professional caregivers by (1) occupying a unique space between professionals, family and patients and fulfilling a liaison function and (2) being a unique face of care for patients. Healthcare services and policy can support volunteer role performance by ensuring frequent communication opportunities and volunteer coordination.

scholarly journals A qualitative study of bereaved family caregivers: feeling of security, facilitators and barriers for rural home care and death for persons with advanced cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Sæle Barlund ◽  
Beate André ◽  
Kari Sand ◽  
Anne-Tove Brenne
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
At Home

Abstract Background For cancer patients and their family, an important factor that determines the choice to die at home is the caregivers’ feeling of security when caring for the patient at home. Support to caregivers from healthcare professionals is important for the feeling of security. In rural areas, long distances and variable infrastructure may influence on access to healthcare services. This study explored factors that determined the security of caregivers of patients with advanced cancer who cared for the patients at home at the end of life in the rural region of Sogn og Fjordane in Norway, and what factors that facilitated home death. Methods A qualitative study using semi-structured in-depth interviews with bereaved with experience from caring for cancer patients at home at the end of life was performed. Meaning units were extracted from the transcribed interviews and divided into categories and subcategories using Kvale and Brinkmann’s qualitative method for analysis. Results Ten bereaved caregivers from nine families where recruited. Five had lived together with the deceased. Three main categories of factors contributing to security emerged from the analysis: “Personal factors”, “Healthcare professionals” and “Organization” of healthcare. Healthcare professionals and the organization of healthcare services contributed most to the feeling of security. Conclusion Good competence in palliative care among healthcare professionals caring for patients with advanced cancer at home and well- organized palliative care services with defined responsibilities provided security to caregivers caring for advanced cancer patients at home in Sogn og Fjordane.

scholarly journals Griping and Joking as Identification Rituals and Tools for Engagement in Cross-Boundary Team Meetings

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 753-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Pouthier
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Team Communication ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Team Meetings ◽  
Communicative Activities

This article explores the role of griping and joking behaviors in cross-boundary teams. Those socio-emotional behaviors often go unnoticed in studies of team communication, as does more broadly the work of building relationships. Given the growing recognition that the quality of connections among team members significantly influences the quality of coordinating and knowledge-sharing practices in cross-boundary teams, this seems an important lacuna to address. Drawing on a qualitative study of a cross-occupational team responsible for palliative care and oncology patients, I illustrate how those mundane, recurrent communicative activities, which may appear tangential to the task at hand, have important relational and emotional consequences for the functioning of cross-boundary teams. Based on the observed characteristics and effects of a variety of griping and joking behaviors, I propose to conceptualize those communicative activities as identification rituals. I discuss the implications of this work for both research on the production of positive relational realities in cross-boundary teams and the study of organizational griping and humor.

A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Home Day Care Center Directors

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-137
Author(s):  
Mi-Sook Kang ◽  
Seung-Eun Lee ◽  
Seung-Min Song ◽  
Soo-Jee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Day Care Center ◽  
Home Day Care

Happiness at the end of life: A qualitative study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Tan Seng Beng ◽  
Wong Ka Ghee ◽  
Ng Yun Hui ◽  
Ooi Chieh Yin ◽  
Khoo Wei Shen Kelvin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
The University ◽  
Eudaimonic Happiness

Abstract Objective Dying is mostly seen as a dreadful event, never a happy experience. Yet, as palliative care physicians, we have seen so many patients who remained happy despite facing death. Hence, we conducted this qualitative study to explore happiness in palliative care patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre. Method Twenty terminally ill patients were interviewed with semi-structured questions. The results were thematically analyzed. Results Eight themes were generated: the meaning of happiness, connections, mindset, pleasure, health, faith, wealth, and work. Our results showed that happiness is possible at the end of life. Happiness can coexist with pain and suffering. Social connections were the most important element of happiness at the end of life. Wealth and work were given the least emphasis. From the descriptions of our patients, we recognized a tendency for the degree of importance to shift from the hedonic happiness to eudaimonic happiness as patients experienced a terminal illness. Significance of results To increase the happiness of palliative care patients, it is crucial to assess the meaning of happiness for each patient and the degree of importance for each happiness domain to allow targeted interventions.

scholarly journals To Volunteer or Not? Perspectives towards Pre-Registered Nursing Students Volunteering Frontline during COVID-19 Pandemic to Ease Healthcare Workforce: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6668
Author(s):  
Betsy Seah ◽  
Ben Ho ◽  
Sok Ying Liaw ◽  
Emily Neo Kim Ang ◽  
Siew Tiang Lau
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Strategic Partnerships ◽  
Healthcare Workforce ◽  
Student Volunteer ◽  
Operational Processes

COVID-19 has caused a shortage of healthcare workers and has strained healthcare systems globally. Pre-registered healthcare students with training have a duty of care and can support the healthcare workforce. This study explored factors influencing the willingness of final-year nursing students to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of professional identity in volunteering as healthcare workers, and strategies to improve future volunteering uptakes and processes. A qualitative study using focus-group discussions was conducted. Final-year nursing students who volunteered, students who did not volunteer, and lecturers who supervised student volunteers were recruited. Interviews were conducted online, video-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis was used. The themes were “wavering thoughts on volunteering”, “bringing out ‘the nurse’ in students through volunteering” and “gearing up to volunteer”. Findings suggested the need to look beyond the simplicity of altruism to the role of professional identity, operational, and motivational factors to explain nursing students’ decision to volunteer and their volunteer behavior. Providing accommodation, monetary and academic-related incentives, supporting the transitionary phase from students to “professional volunteers”, promoting cohesive and positive staff–student volunteer relationships, and establishing a volunteer management team are strategies identified to improve volunteering uptake and operational processes. Our findings advocate strategic partnerships between hospitals/communities and academic institutions in providing various healthcare services during pandemics.

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