Introduction
Psychological assistance can be in demand in various areas of medicine, but one of the most important is palliative care. Care from a moral point of view, as an integral part of palliative medicine, is the psychological and spiritual support of the patient, as well as the provision of assistance to the relatives of a seriously ill patient in caring for him and in the grief of loss. The attitude towards a patient in need of palliative care should contain care and responsibility. At the same time, each patient should be considered a person and not just another clinical case.
Problem Statement
It is essential to respect ethnic, racial, and religious preferences, consider cultural characteristics and the right to choose a residence, express sympathy, and help solve any patient’s problems. People who are cared for can often feel psychologically depressed due to their limited ability to care for themselves. All these reasons justify the development of the question of the importance and inalienability of psychological assistance in palliative care.
Statement of Purpose
In many cases, aspects of psychological care in caring for a person can be violated. This is due to the low prevalence of the need for such participation in the health process. Many nurses are also under-motivated and unable to provide support and spiritual influence. This is another problem because one often observes the lack of necessary psychological support for those who need it. The work aims to study the degree of effectiveness and the need for psychological support in pleasurable care. The value of this goal is to find out how much such moral assistance can be necessary and effective in palliative care for patients.
Literature Review
Many articles are of great importance for the study of the issue of psychological care in palliative care. In order to provide the most qualified care to patients, it is necessary to consider all the important aspects that may affect the possible potential condition of the person.
Caregivers in Home Palliative Care
The specific work by Franchini et al. (2020) aims to study the impact of all possible aspects of quality of life on the condition of patients and caregivers. Such indicators influence the degree of assistance provided and its effectiveness as gender and the patient’s psychological and physical condition.
Franchini et al. (2020) interviewed 570 palliative care providers to determine how the presented variables might affect their quality of life. The study results were that the most important variables in the provision of psychological care in palliative care are the gender of the patient and the time spent in care. Works on this topic are useful because they help consider the various variables that affect the psychological state of nurses and patients. Research is consistent and shows commonalities that psychological support is an integral part of palliative care.
Delirium in Palliative Care
Some other authors specify their scientific developments, for example, in the case of individual diseases. According to Bramati and Bruera (2021), one can consider psychological support in palliative care using the example of delirium. The work of scientists aims to identify the effectiveness of moral and psychological support in alleviating the mental state of a person (Bramati & Bruera, 2021). Since the disorder is associated with death and multiple disturbances in the perception of the world around people, psychological aspects are important in care.
Evidence of the effectiveness of psychological influence on people is of great value because it indicates that it is possible to improve patients’ morale. In this regard, scientists have reviewed many experiments that have studied the effect of sedatives in palliative care (Bramati & Bruera, 2021).
It is essential to understand how effective the use of sedatives in combination with psychological intervention is. After studying the literary sources of information, it can be said that psychological assistance is an important attribute for the patient and his family. Nurses often have to explain the client’s condition to relatives. At the same time, since information may not always be positive, it is necessary to be able to effectively influence the psyche of people in order to support them.
Hospice Palliative Care (HPC) and Medical Assistance in Dying (Maid)
Palliative care for patients is of great importance not only for the medical but also for psychological studies. Some research is focused on how effective psychological care are in palliative care for dying patients (Antonacci et al., 2021). At the same time, the authors put forward the theory that psychological support is especially important for patients in palliative care who are near death (Antonacci et al., 2021). Thus, studies of the influence of nurses on the moral aspects of clients are in demand and necessary.
The staff of many clinics needs adaptation and training in order to be able to provide psychological assistance to patients and their loved ones properly. In their study, Antonacci et al. (2021) surveyed 452 nurses on how psychological support affects their work. As a result of the work, it was found that such assistance to employees is at a low level and does not meet the standards. This suggests that many healthcare professionals are at risk of developing an unstable mental state and are unable to provide similar care to others. Thus, literary sources on the subject of providing psychological support are of utmost importance as they substantiate the need to treat people not only through physical care but also through psychological help.
Conclusion
The study of scientific papers written by different specialists plays an important role in determining the degree of need for psychological support in palliative care. De Lucena et al. (2020) compiled and analyzed relevant papers that revealed the positive aspects of providing psychological assistance to clients. Thus, most of the reviewed papers focus on experiences that have been analyzed to determine how important mental state normalization plays in palliative care. In conclusion, it is essential to say that the studies reviewed make it clear that psychological intervention can provide significant support for treating patients in palliative care.
References
Antonacci, R., Baxter, S., Henderson, J. D., Mirza, R. M., & Klinger, C. A. (2021). Hospice palliative care (HPC) and medical assistance in dying (MAiD): Results from a Canada-wide survey. Journal of Palliative Care, 36(3), 151-156. Web.
Bramati, P., & Bruera, E. (2021). Delirium in palliative care. Cancers, 13(23), 5893. Web.
de Lucena, L. L., Zaccara, A. A. L., Batista, J. B. V., Rodrigues, M. D. S. D., Freire, M. L., & de Araújo, C. R. D. (2020). Psychological assistance for end-of-life patients under palliative care in the hospital environment: An integrative review/Cuidados Paliativos Na Terminalidade: Revisão Integrativa No Campo Da Psicologia Hospitalar. Revista de Pesquisa Cuidado é Fundamental Online, 12, 1253-1259. Web.
Franchini, L., Ercolani, G., Ostan, R., Raccichini, M., Samolsky-Dekel, A., Malerba, M. B., Melis, A., Varani, S. & Pannuti, R. (2020). Caregivers in home palliative care: gender, psychological aspects, and patient’s functional status as main predictors for their quality of life. Supportive Care in Cancer, 28(7), 3227-3235. Web.