scholarly journals Family dynamics during the grieving process: a systematic literature review

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1119-1134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayra Delalibera ◽  
Joana Presa ◽  
Alexandra Coelho ◽  
António Barbosa ◽  
Maria Helena Pereira Franco

The loss of a loved one can affect family dynamics by changing the family system and creating the need for family members to reorganize. Good family functioning, which is characterized by open communication, expression of feelings and thoughts and cohesion among family members, facilitates adaptive adjustment to the loss. This study conducted a systematic review of the literature on family dynamics during the grieving process. A search was conducted in the EBSCO, Web of Knowledge and Bireme databases for scientific articles published from January 1980 to June 2013. Of the 389 articles found, only 15 met all the inclusion criteria. The selected studies provided evidence that dysfunctional families exhibit more psychopathological symptoms, more psychosocial morbidity, poorer social functioning, greater difficulty accessing community resources, lower functional capacity at work, and a more complicated grieving process. Family conflicts were also emphasized as contributing to the development of a complicated grieving process, while cohesion, expression of affection and good communication in families are believed to mitigate grief symptoms.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
Siti Riskika ◽  
Melinda Restu Pertiwi ◽  
Nessy Anggun Primasari ◽  
Niswa Salamung

Introduction: Many things are done by a person to get peace in his life, but sometimes someone does not realize the importance of interacting with other people, in this case communication. Communication is very crucial in life, especially in family life. Someone who is experiencing illness also needs clear communication to help the healing process, be it communication with family or communication with health workers. Method: The literature search was carried out by looking for literature studies in Scopus and in ScienceDirect with the theme of communication in the family. Results: After applying the eligibility criteria in the review, the 15 studies that had been obtained were included. The 15 studies, it shows that the communication provided by the family to other family members is very important in supporting the recovery of a sick family member, even a baby who is sick will gradually improve if he gets good communication from his mother, in the form of communication with physical contact. and attachment. The study of communication is important considering that many do not understand that communication is very important in life. Effective and open communication is also one of the keys to achieving a harmonious life in the family. Conclusion: Effective and open communication is important to apply, especially in family life, and also in the hospital environment, good communication between health workers, patients and families will help heal patients who are experiencing illness


Author(s):  
Rebecca Fairchild ◽  
Janine Sheridan

The experience of family violence greatly impacts family dynamics and often results in children and young people becoming intertwined in a complex cycle of love, hope, and fear within their family system. Research in this context has emphasised how having a close relationship to an attuned adult or caregiver is a key protective factor for children and young people experiencing family violence, therefore engagement of family and supportive systems is an important part of the work. This article will explore our collaborative approach to working creatively with children, young people, and their non-violent family members as a way of bringing families back together after their relationships have been disrupted due to family violence. We will draw upon a case example from our work to describe how we use music to give voice to children and young people’s experiences. This approach aims to support children to tell their story, build upon their existing resources, and strengthen connections with the supportive people in their lives. In doing so, we will demonstrate how music can be used to advocate for children and young people’s voices to be heard within the context of their family’s experience.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Casey Jones ◽  
Kathleen Puntillo ◽  
Doranne Donesky ◽  
Jennifer L. McAdam

Background Losing a loved one in the intensive care unit can be challenging for families. Providing bereavement support may assist in the grieving process. Objective To describe family members’ experiences with bereavement after the death of a loved one in the intensive care unit. Methods This secondary analysis used an exploratory, descriptive design to study family members’ experiences with bereavement. Family members of patients from 2 intensive care units in a tertiary medical center in the western United States participated. Audiotaped telephone interviews using a semistructured questionnaire were conducted. A qualitative, descriptive technique was used for data analysis. Two independent raters coded transcripts of audiotaped interviews with family members about their bereavement experiences. Results Seventeen family members participated in the study. Most participants were female (n = 12; 71%) and spouses of deceased patients (n = 14; 82%), and their mean (SD) age was 62.4 (10.0) years. Three themes emerged: (1) bereavement was an individual experience; (2) situations occurring during the intensive care unit encounter remained significant for family members beyond a year after the death; and (3) social, cultural, spiritual, and religious events after the death hold importance for families of patients in the intensive care unit. Conclusions Bereavement is a challenging experience for families of deceased intensive care unit patients. The themes identified in this study add insight into the experiences of these family members. The results of this study may guide future interventions to help support bereaved families of intensive care unit patients.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie T. Nolan ◽  
Mark T. Hughes ◽  
Joan Kub ◽  
Peter B. Terry ◽  
Alan Astrow ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:Several studies have reported high levels of distress in family members who have made health care decisions for loved ones at the end of life. A method is needed to assess the readiness of family members to take on this important role. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale to measure family member confidence in making decisions with (conscious patient scenario) and for (unconscious patient scenario) a terminally ill loved one.Methods:On the basis of a survey of family members of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) enriched by in-depth interviews guided by Self-Efficacy Theory, we developed six themes within family decision making self-efficacy. We then created items reflecting these themes that were refined by a panel of end-of-life research experts. With 30 family members of patients in an outpatient ALS and a pancreatic cancer clinic, we tested the tool for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and for consistency from one administration to another using the test–retest reliability assessment in a subset of 10 family members. Items with item to total scale score correlations of less than .40 were eliminated.Results:A 26-item scale with two 13-item scenarios resulted, measuring family self-efficacy in decision making for a conscious or unconscious patient with a Cronbach's alphas of .91 and .95, respectively. Test–retest reliability was r = .96, p = .002 in the conscious senario and r = .92, p = .009 in the unconscious scenario.Significance of results:The Family Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale is valid, reliable, and easily completed in the clinic setting. It may be used in research and clinical care to assess the confidence of family members in their ability to make decisions with or for a terminally ill loved one.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 520-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunjeong Ko ◽  
Jaehoon Lee ◽  
Carlos Ramirez ◽  
Denicka Lopez ◽  
Stephanie Martinez

AbstractObjective:Family caregivers play an important role in end-of-life (EoL) decision making when the patient is unable to make his/her own decisions. While communication about EoL care between patients and family is perhaps a first step toward advance care planning (ACP)/EoL decisions, not every culture puts great value on open communication about this topic. The aims of the present study were to explore EoL communication and the aspects of communication among caregivers of Latino patients in the rural United States (U.S.)–Mexico border region.Method:This study analyzed data from a hospice needs assessment collected from 189 family caregivers of Latino patients at a home health agency in a rural U.S.–Mexico border region. Bivariate tests and logistic regression were used to address our aims.Results:About half of the family caregivers (n = 96, 50.8%) reported to have ever engaged in EoL discussion with patients. Significant predictors of EoL discussion included life-sustaining treatment preference (odds ratio [OR] = 0.44, p < 0.05); knowledge of an advance directive (AD) (OR = 5.50, p < 0.01); and distrust of physicians (OR = 0.29, p < 0.01). Caregivers who preferred extending the life of their loved one even if he/she had to rely on life supports were less likely to engage in EoL communication. Also, caregivers who worried that physicians might want to stop treatments (i.e., “pull the plug”) too soon were less likely to do so. Conversely, caregivers who had knowledge about ADs were more likely to engage in EoL communication.Significance of Results:EoL communication is a complex process influenced by individual, social, and cultural values and the beliefs of both the patient and his/her family. Inclusion of family caregivers in the ACP process and facilitating culturally tailored EoL communication between patients and family caregivers is important.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shefaly Shorey ◽  
Emily Ang ◽  
John Yap ◽  
Esperanza Debby Ng ◽  
Siew Tiang Lau ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The ability of nursing undergraduates to communicate effectively with health care providers, patients, and their family members is crucial to their nursing professions as these can affect patient outcomes. However, the traditional use of didactic lectures for communication skills training is ineffective, and the use of standardized patients is not time- or cost-effective. Given the abilities of virtual patients (VPs) to simulate interactive and authentic clinical scenarios in secured environments with unlimited training attempts, a virtual counseling application is an ideal platform for nursing students to hone their communication skills before their clinical postings. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to develop and test the use of VPs to better prepare nursing undergraduates for communicating with real-life patients, their family members, and other health care professionals during their clinical postings. METHODS The stages of the creation of VPs included preparation, design, and development, followed by a testing phase before the official implementation. An initial voice chatbot was trained using a natural language processing engine, Google Cloud’s Dialogflow, and was later visualized into a three-dimensional (3D) avatar form using Unity 3D. RESULTS The VPs included four case scenarios that were congruent with the nursing undergraduates’ semesters’ learning objectives: (1) assessing the pain experienced by a pregnant woman, (2) taking the history of a depressed patient, (3) escalating a bleeding episode of a postoperative patient to a physician, and (4) showing empathy to a stressed-out fellow final-year nursing student. Challenges arose in terms of content development, technological limitations, and expectations management, which can be resolved by contingency planning, open communication, constant program updates, refinement, and training. CONCLUSIONS The creation of VPs to assist in nursing students’ communication skills training may provide authentic learning environments that enhance students’ perceived self-efficacy and confidence in effective communication skills. However, given the infancy stage of this project, further refinement and constant enhancements are needed to train the VPs to simulate real-life conversations before the official implementation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Megan Weber Falk ◽  
Rakel Eklund ◽  
Ulrika Kreicbergs ◽  
Anette Alvariza ◽  
Malin Lövgren

Abstract Objective The entire family is affected when a parent is severely ill. Parents often need and appreciate professional support when talking to children about illness and death. The family talk intervention (FTI) is family-centered and intends to promote communication about the illness and its consequences, support parenting to enhance family coping and help family members share experiences with each other to create a shared family history. This study aimed to explore potential effects of FTI in specialized palliative home care, as reported by parents. Method This pre-post test intervention pilot was conducted in specialized palliative home care. A convergent mixed-method design was used to analyze interview and questionnaire data. Twenty families with dependent children were recruited from two specialized palliative home care units in Stockholm, Sweden. Results Parents reported that family communication improved after participation in FTI as family members learned communication strategies that facilitated open sharing of thoughts and feelings. Increased open communication helped family members gain a better understanding of each other's perspectives. Parents reported that relationships with their partner and children had improved as they now shared several strategies for maintaining family relationships. Parents were also less worried following participation in FTI. The ill parents stated that they gained a sense of security and were less worried about the future. Significance of results This study adds to the evidence that FTI may be a useful intervention for families with dependent children and an ill parent in a palliative care setting. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03119545.


Jurnal NERS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byba Melda Suhita ◽  
Chatarina Umbul Wahyuni ◽  
Hari Basuki Notobroto ◽  
Ah Yusuf

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that is characterized by impaired reality (hallucinations and delusions), inability to communicate, affect unnatural or blunt, cognitive disorders (not capable of abstract thinking) and had difficulty doing daily activities. Normally, the family is most affected by the presence of people with schizophrenia in their families. The purpose of this study was to develop an adaptation model of the caregiver in caring for family members with schizophrenia in Kediri. Methods: This study used cross-sectional design with nature explanatory research. Data were collected using a questionnaire on 135 respondents in nine health centers in the city of Kediri region. The sampling technique used simple random sampling. For data analysis and test, the feasibility used a test model of SEM with AMOS program 19. Results: The results showed self esteem caregiver (-0.25 <0.05), community resources (0.24 <0.05), self-efficacy (0.22> 0.05) , caregiver coping effort (12:17 <0.05), and the perception of caregiver about the family situation at this time (0:19 <0.05), which means that adaptation of caregiver in treating patients with schizophrenia is influenced by the characteristics of the family, namely community resources, self-efficacy, caregiver coping effort, self-esteem and perception of family caregiver to the conditions experienced at this time. Perception of caregiver about the condition of today's families is affected by stress, which appears on a caregiver stress due to stressor for caring for people with schizophrenia, especially the aggressive behavior of schizophrenics. Discussion: Adaptation of caregiver was highly influential in the care of people with schizophrenia because in this case becomes one of the important points to be able to sustain the process of treatment and prevent relapse of schizophrenics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 5537-5559
Author(s):  
Jailyn N. Puerto ◽  
Marison R. Dy ◽  
Jacqueline Lee O. Canilao ◽  
Melissa P. Ferido ◽  
Benjamina Paula G. Flor

Agtas are one of the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) residing in the mountainous parts of Luzon and some can be found in the Bicol Region. They are still dependent on agriculture in order to generate income and sustain their basic needs. Agta farming families are said to be already engaging in the Palayamanan System Approach (PSA), but their knowledge and skills still need to be enhanced to fully maximize the benefits that they can gain from the said approach. The study aimed to analyze the family dynamics structure among farming family systems of Agta Indigenous Peoples in Bicol. It also evaluated how family dynamics affect farm decision-making among Agta farming households. The family dynamics of the Agta farming families was assessed through the FACES IV (Olson, 2011). Results showed that there was unbalanced cohesion and unbalanced adaptability levels within the family system. On the other hand, communication and satisfaction were high. Gender and educational attainment showed a strong correlation to family cohesion and engagement in the PSA, respectively, therefore, both factors could be considered for effective development interventions to take place. Overall, the Agta communities' geographical condition, culture and beliefs, sources of information have affected their way of living, farm practices, and farm-decision making. There have been very limited studies regarding indigenous people and communities in the Philippines. Thus, this study would serve as an entry point to further understand them and would guide in the formulation of appropriate strategies that will help improve and enhance their lives.     Los agtas son uno de los pueblos indígenas (PI) que residen en las zonas montañosas de Luzón y algunos se encuentran en la región de Bicol. Siguen dependiendo de la agricultura para generar ingresos y satisfacer sus necesidades básicas. Se dice que las familias agricultoras de Agta ya participan en el enfoque del sistema Palayamanan (PSA), pero sus conocimientos y habilidades aún deben mejorarse para maximizar los beneficios que pueden obtener de dicho enfoque. El estudio tenía como objetivo analizar la estructura de la dinámica familiar entre los sistemas familiares agrícolas de los pueblos indígenas Agta en Bicol. También se evaluó cómo la dinámica familiar afecta a la toma de decisiones agrícolas entre los hogares agrícolas Agta. La dinámica familiar de las familias agrícolas Agta se evaluó a través del FACES IV (Olson, 2011). Los resultados mostraron que había una cohesión desequilibrada y niveles de adaptabilidad desequilibrados dentro del sistema familiar. Por otro lado, la comunicación y la satisfacción eran altas. El género y el nivel educativo mostraron una fuerte correlación con la cohesión familiar y el compromiso con el APS, respectivamente, por lo tanto, ambos factores podrían ser considerados para que las intervenciones de desarrollo sean efectivas. En general, la condición geográfica, la cultura y las creencias de las comunidades Agta, así como las fuentes de información, han afectado a su modo de vida, a sus prácticas agrícolas y a la toma de decisiones agrícolas. Los estudios sobre los pueblos y comunidades indígenas en Filipinas son muy limitados. Por lo tanto, este estudio servirá como punto de entrada para comprenderlos mejor y guiará en la formulación de estrategias apropiadas que ayudarán a mejorar y potenciar sus vidas.


1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Vess ◽  
John Moreland ◽  
Andrew I. Schwebel

Families in which a parent has died will show a variety of reactions and recovery patterns. This article examines several factors which contribute to this variance. Within the framework of a developmental role analysis of the family system, the influence of the stage of the family life cycle, the roles of the deceased, previous patterns of role allocation, and the type of death are discussed. It is suggested that “person oriented” families, characterized by achieved roles, open communication, and flexible power structures, will more effectively reallocate family roles following the death of a spouse/parent. On contrast, “position oriented” families, characterized by ascribed roles, closed communication, and relatively inflexible power structures, will be too dependent on cultural norms and will lack the role-reallocating mechanisms necessary to ensure adequate family functioning following such a death.


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