This thesis consists of a literature review, a research paper and critical review which report on the experiences that health and mental health professionals have whilst working with death and dying. The literature review includes a meta-synthesis of findings from 14 qualitative studies of varying methodologies exploring the experiences of health professionals providing care to dying patients in palliative care settings. Three themes were identified. These were, 'The sources and management of dissonance in the work place' 'Sources of job satisfaction; Recognition, understanding and personal growth' and 'The advantages and disadvantages of close interpersonal relationships with service users and their families' . Further consideration of the outcomes demonstrated that the primary research may have been influenced by the quality of the original papers and by health policies. Recommendations were made for individuals involved in service planning and those providing support for those providing care. The research paper explored the experience of clinical psychologists following client suicide. A qualitative methodology incorporating semi structured interviews and narrative analysis was conducted which generated two rich, detailed stories relating to the experience. From these it is concluded that for clinical psychologists, client suicide results in a pervasive experience of anxiety. Furthermore, the sense of professional growth that is expressed by some clinical psychologists following a client suicide should be considered as a coping strategy used during adaptation to the loss. The dual processing model (DPM: Stroebe, Schut & Stroebe, 2005) and the self complexity model (Liniville, 1988) have utility in providing theoretical explanations accounting for the experience. Recommendations are made regarding measures that should be taken by clinical psychologists in the event of client suicide. Finally, the critical review contains reflections concerning the decisions that I made whilst planning and conducting the research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:551663 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Mason, Christina |
| Publisher | Lancaster University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0022 seconds