Perdikouri, Marianna (2011) "Finding a nugget of hope" : a contribution into the field of end of life. DClinPsych thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Palliative care is relatively young as a healthcare specialty. Although increasing attention has been paid to issues such as psychological wellbeing at the end stages of life, addressing the challenge of how to best integrate clinical psychology provision with medical and other palliative care provision has been a much more recent development. In recent years, the development of Government and other Statutory organisation initiatives, such as Guidance on Cancer Services: Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2004); the End of Life Care Strategy (Department of Helath, 2008) and the Role of Psychology in End of Life Care (British Psychological Society, 2008), appears to signify a commitment both to enhancing funding for end of life services and to improving the quality of end of life care provision. This thesis was submitted as part of a requirement for the completion of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate course and comprises of three separate papers. The first two, a literature review and an empirical study, explore two areas within the field of End of Life that have not been sufficiently researched. The third paper is a reflective account. Chapter one presents a critical review of the literature on multi-member family interventions at the end of life. A significant amount of research over recent years has demonstrated the benefits of individual and couple theraphy as well as family therapy at the end of life. The present author aimed to explore whether multi-member family interventions at the end of life were beneficial to family members. The review identifies that there is substantial empirical support for the effectiveness of these interventions but highlights methodological limitations within the available research and offers direction for future research. Chapter two presents an empirical study exploring Clinical Psychologists' experiences of working with patients at the end of life. A significant amount of research on the experiences of Nurses and other medical professionals exists, however, there is a lack of research on the experiences of Clinical Psychologists working in this field. The researcher used an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach to explore the experiences of Clinical Psychologists working with patients at the end stages of life and the impact this work has on Clinical Psychologists. The major themes are presented and discussed. Methodological limitations, clinical implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed. Chapter Three is a reflective paper considering some of the issues which arose for the researcher during the research process but also the Clinical Psychology Doctorate as a whole. Reflections on personal and professional development as a result of the above are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (DClinPsych)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Terminal care, Death -- Psychological aspects, Clinical psychologists
Date:	May 2011
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Psychology
Thesis Type:	DClinPsych
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Patterson, Tom, Dr. ; Watters, Camilla
Description:	Completed in conjunction with Coventry University. School of Health and Social Sciences.
Extent:	x, 142 leaves
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/49328

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