nurturing realistic hope in patients with a poor prognosis wes sedlacek, mdiv, bcc
TRANSCRIPT
Nurturing Realistic Hope in Patients
with a Poor Prognosis
Wes Sedlacek, MDiv, BCC
Learning Goals:
1) To better understand the concept of hope
2) To become familiar with common factors that sustain or threaten a
patient’s sense of hope
3) To identify several behaviors medical caregivers can embrace or
avoid, to best nurture hope
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Hagerty RG, Butow PN, et al: Communicating with realism and hope: Incurable cancer
patients’ views on the disclosure of prognosis. Journal of Clinical Oncology Vol 23, No 6:1278-
1288, 2005
Factors that Influence Hope - Relationships - Spiritual beliefs - Philosophy of life - Determination - Humor / lightheartedness - Attainable goals - Sense of control
Factors that Threaten Hope - Recognizing physical cues and evidence of setbacks - Disconnected from relationships - Negative hospital experiences - Negative attitudes of healthcare workers - Negative self-talk by patient - Uncontrolled pain and discomfort
Clayton JM, Hancock K, et al: Sustaining hope when communicating with terminally ill patients
and their families: A systematic review. Psycho-Oncology 17:641-659, 2008
Hagerty RG, Butow PN, et al: Communicating with realism and hope: Incurable cancer
patients’ views on the disclosure of prognosis. Journal of Clinical Oncology Vol 23, No 6:1278-
1288, 2005
Hope-Giving Behaviors - Being realistic - Giving time to ask questions - Acknowledging the patient as an individual - Giving information personally - Checking patient’s understanding - Explaining symptoms well - Assuring pain control - Communicating well
Hope-Hindering Behaviors - Appearing nervous or uncomfortable - Giving information in an impersonal manner - Using euphemisms - Talking about treatment but avoiding talk about the disease - Giving survival statistics - Hiding or distorting the truth