Background: Living with an incurable disease means facing existential challenges that the person must relate to. Being in a palliative phase also means that the person undergoes a lot of changes which often causes suffering. Suffering in palliative care is seen as multidimensional, something that affects the whole person, which is why a holistic view is a central part of palliative care. Aim: The aim of this literature study was to describe patient's experiences of existential suffering in the palliative phase. Method: A literature study based on ten qualitative articles. Results: Four main themes were found; experiences of a changed life-situation, experiences of loneliness, experiences of meaningless and experiences of loss. Conclusion: The study shows, from an existential point of view that coping and handling with an imminent death is complex and difficult in several ways. Patients in palliative care are a vulnerable patient group whose existential suffering may be enhanced by the way health professionals provide care. The study also shows a need for further research in this area aiming to support health care professionals to alleviate existential suffering.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hv-7295 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Granström, Frida |
| Publisher | Högskolan Väst, Avd för vårdvetenskap på grundnivå |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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