Supporting the terminally-ill: The role of primary care providers

• Main Author: Ano, Sheilyn M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2008
• Subjects: Primary care (Medicine); Terminally ill; Terminal care—Religious aspects; Terminal care > Social aspects.; Medicine and Health Sciences; Public Health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3705; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/10543/viewcontent/CDTG004423_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This descriptive study sought a deeper and detailed understanding of the types of social support provided during a health crisis situation of a family member, the positive and negative effects of providing support on the primary care providers as well as their ways of coping with the negative effects from the perspectives of twelve (12) primary care providers of the diagnosed terminally-ill cancer patients in Zamboanga City Medical Center. Findings show that most of the primary care providers are young, next of kin who are either children or wives of the patients, and mostly are with Bachelors degree but are non-working or unemployed. The results of the study generated similar categorization of social support from the literature gathered. The types of social support provided to the terminally-ill cancer patients are emotional, instrumental, physical, and informational support. Data further revealed that primary care providers provide the most of the instrumental support which is attending to the personal hygiene, nutritional and medical care to the patient. Because of the fact that most of them are non-working, they cannot provide the financial support and this support is given mostly by other family members who are working. In other types of social support such as emotional, physical, and informational support, results revealed that both primary care providers and other family members are able to provide to their terminally-ill cancer patients. The findings also indicate that the primary care providers find the financial needs of the patients difficult to sustain owing to the long duration of treatment at a high cost. This finding implies that outside of the family, support from the government for the terminally-ill cancer patients are wanting or needed. It is also perceived that primary care providers are both affected positively and negatively in providing care to their terminally-ill cancer patients. And as ways of coping with the negative effects, primary care providers use prayers, think positively, and ask/ seek for financial help from other relatives to help them out in facing the difficulties in supporting their patients.