Health care interactional suffering in palliative care

Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2014 May;31(3):307-14. doi: 10.1177/1049909113490065. Epub 2013 May 20.

Abstract

A secondary analysis of 2 qualitative studies was conducted to explore the experiences of suffering caused by interactions with health care providers in the hospital setting. Interview transcripts from 20 palliative care patients and 15 palliative care informal caregivers in University Malaya Medical Centre were thematically analyzed. The results of health care interactional suffering were associated with themes of attention, understanding, communication, competence, and limitation. These 5 themes may serve as a framework for the improvement in interaction skills of health care providers in palliative care.

Keywords: Malaysia; health care interactions; palliative care; psychosocial issues; suffering; thematic analysis.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Caregivers / psychology
  • Caregivers / statistics & numerical data
  • Communication
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Palliative Care* / psychology
  • Palliative Care* / standards
  • Palliative Care* / statistics & numerical data
  • Professional-Patient Relations*
  • Qualitative Research
  • Stress, Psychological / epidemiology*
  • Stress, Psychological / etiology