Author:
ROKACH AMI,MATALON RAAN,SAFAROV ARTEM,BERCOVITCH MICHAELA
Abstract
Objective: The study compared the qualitative aspects of the
loneliness experience of the dying, their caregivers, and the general
population.Method: The patients were recruited in an oncological hospice
in Israel, and, despite being on their deathbed, agreed to participate in
the study. Thirty-seven cancer-stricken patients, 78 caregivers, and 128
participants from the general population volunteered to partake in the
study. They answered, anonymously, a 30-item questionnaire and were asked
to endorse those items that described their experience of loneliness.Results: Results suggested that the three populations did,
indeed, differ in their experience of loneliness. More specifically, dying
patients and their caregivers had significantly higher subscale scores on
the Growth and Discovery and the Self-alienation subscales than the
general population did. It was also found that the number of
hospitalization days was significantly negatively correlated to the
Emotional Distress and Self-alienation subscales.Significance of results: The present results indicate that
loneliness is experienced differently in or out of the hospice and by the
dying patient, his or her caregiver, and the general population. This may
be the first study to examine the qualitative aspects of the loneliness
experienced by the dying and by their caregivers. More research is needed
to replicate the present study, using larger samples.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Clinical Psychology,General Medicine,General Nursing
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