Finally, some recommendations for the development of bereavement counselling in relation to social policy, service delivery, education and training, workers' personal development, as well as future research were presented. / In--depth interviews were conducted with 12 social workers working in palliative care. This figure was nearly half of the total number of palliative care social workers in Taiwan, so the research findings may reflect the general situation of bereavement counselling in Taiwan. Their stories revealed the endeavours of these social workers in the past years and showed the development of the services from nothing to multifarious. / The narratives of the workers reflected the required individual characteristics of a bereavement counsellor, such as stability in emotion, resilience, creativity, psychic energy. Due to the nature of their work they often encountered death and sufferings, as well as feeling of helplessness. In facing different obstacles and challenges, some of them might retreat themselves at times, especially for those who were still entangled in their personal bereavement. Their emotional state would affect the establishment of effective helping relationship and subsequently the effectiveness of their service. / The research revealed that most of the social workers did not apply any specific theories, or techniques in working with the bereaved. Their narratives reflected that they worked with the bereaved by establishing a meaningful working relationship. They respected and accepted their clients' needs; their empathic support helped the bereaved face the pain of losing their loved ones. Their encouragement and assurance helped them develop and change. Their skills and methods matched well with those of humanism and existentialism. They also tended to adopt postmodernism approach of storytelling in helping the bereaved. Through narration, the workers helped the bereaved re-construct the meaning of their relationship with the deceased in their life. / The study revealed that the social workers considered most of the bereaved had the ability of self-healing, but for some, due to personal or environmental factors they might be entangled in their grief and might need assistance. Their work reflected the emphases of bereavement counselling in Taiwan. Besides counselling service, they also provided assistance in medical related matters, emotional support, enhancement of family members' communication, social adjustment and religious support. Due to the socio-cultural backgrounds of Taiwan, their tasks also included special arrangements at death and discussion of funeral services and rituals. The social workers also stressed the importance of the traditional value of harmony among Heaven, Earth and Man. They paid special attention to the emotional harmony of the bereaved, harmony between the bereaved and their relatives, and harmony among the social environment, the spiritual and the bereaved. / This study is a narrative analysis of the palliative care social workers' experiences in bereavement counselling in Taiwan. It explored the characteristics of bereavement counselling, the social workers' interpretation of their experiences and the cultural and contextual factors that affected the palliative care social workers and bereavement counselling. / 李閏華. / Adviser: Mong Chow Amy Lam. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-305) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Li Runhua.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_344952 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Contributors | 李閏華., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Social Work., Li, Runhua. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | Chinese, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (iv, 305 p.) |
| Coverage | Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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