The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a single-session group music therapy songwriting session on grief processing in hospice clinicians. The study design was quasi-experimental. Participants were cluster randomized into a control group and a treatment group. The researcher led a 50-minute songwriting session focused on sharing and processing experiences of grief-related stress and burnout in hospice work. Grief processing was measured using a self-report survey for n=25. Overall differences between control and treatment groups were not found to be statistically significant. Significant differences were also not found in treatment score differences for type of hospice clinician or years of experience. For future research with hospice clinicians, a new measurement tool should be developed that is more specific to measuring an actual difference before and after a treatment. The current measurement tool is best used as an inventory for stress and grief levels that result from caregiving. Any new measurement tool should be kept under twenty questions. A single-session, though convenient for busy hospice clinicians, may not provide a complete treatment for grief and stress. Further research with hospice clinicians may require several treatment sessions to achieve a more complete grief processing experience.

This dissertation originates in research project Potřeby a podpora pracovníků poskytujících paliativní péči v hospicích (FHS_P19_2014_068) (Paliative Hospices Care Staff Needs and Support) which was implemented in 2015. The dissertation deals with needs of hospices staff. These are derived from demands and requirements placed on the staff and correlate with their workload. I express management strategies and attitudes related to staff support. In the theoretical part of the dissertation I survey organization culture and ways and means of staff care. One of the care forms may be supervision. I⁠ focus on its possible form (shape) and supervisor's function. The empirical part of the dissertation is based on the research performed in two hospices. I focus on facility description and provided care. It is based on conversations with staff and management of these facilities. I try to depict the way management views the staff support, demanding situations they are exposed to and their idea of management support. Last but not least I⁠ focus on the supervision area, the way the staff perceives it, to what extent they see it as a contribution (benefit) and what do they expect of it. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)