Discussion of a care protocol for caregivers of cancer patients undergoing palliative care
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-863X2012000300010Keywords:
palliative care, cancer in children, sufferingAbstract
This study's objective was to evaluate the overall well-being and level of distress among caregivers of cancer patients and identify the difficulties faced by physicians who provide care to these patients in order to support the proposition of a new care protocol for a palliative care outpatient service. In the first phase, indicators of the overall well-being and distress levels of ten caregivers of patients undergoing palliative care were assessed using the General Comfort Questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale Revised. In the second phase, physicians were interviewed to provide their opinions concerning palliative care and the difficulties they face to refer patients to a palliative care service. Spearman's negative correlation, performed to campare the results of both instruments applied to caregivers, suggests that higher levels of distress are associated with lower overall levels of well-being. There is, from the perspective of physicians, a need to integrate the care providade by both curative and palliative outpatient services to facilitate integrating the teams and enabling the maintenance of bonds among patients, families and professionals.Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The Editorial Board authorizes free access to and distribution of published contentes, provided that the source is cited, that is, granding credit to the authors and Paidéia and preserving the full text. The author is allowed to place the final version (postprint / editor’s PDF) in an institutional/thematic repositor or personal page (site, blog), immediately after publication, provided that it is available for open access and comes without any embargo period. Full reference should be made to the first publication in Paidéia. Access to the paper should at least be aligned with the access the journal offers.
As a legal entity, the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto School of Philosophy, Sciences and Languages owns and holds the copyright deriving from the publication. To use the papers, Paidéia adopts the Creative Commons Licence, CC BY-NC non-commercial attribution. This licence permits access, download, print, share, reuse and distribution of papers, provided that this is for non-commercial use and that the source is cited, giving due authorship credit to Paidéia. In these cases, neither authors nor editors need any permission.
When deriving from research involving human beings, manuscripts need IRB approval, in compliance with the guidelines and standards of the Brazilian National Health Council Resolution 196/96 – Ministry of Health. Authors should attach the digital copy of the IRB declaration of approval, according to instructions displayed further ahead.