Living and dying with dignity : a qualitative study on the outcomes of family dignity intervention among Singaporean palliative patients and caregivers

• Main Author: Tan, Jun Hao
• Other Authors: Ho Hau Yan Andy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77239
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore is facing major demographic shifts towards population aging and is confronted with increasing demands for the provision of holistic palliative care. The Government and Ministry of health have honorably aspired to promote care that could support the dignity of dying patients and their families at the end-of-life. However, most palliative services offered locally still remain heavily medically-oriented, emphasizing largely on symptom and pain management, and less on the psychosocial-spiritual concerns of the dying. Furthermore, there continues to be a notable lack of empirically-based, non-pharmacological, structured dignity enhancing interventions in Singapore. In this qualitative study, the effects of a novel Family Dignity Intervention (FDI) devised by Ho and colleagues (2017) was explored. Through in-depth interviews, FDI was found to have fostered dignity-enhancing outcomes across five different domains. These include process, social and emotional outcomes that were attained by both patients and caregivers, as well as specific spiritual and post bereavement outcomes that were achieved by patients and caregivers respectively. The findings of this study also revealed the process of how various FDI outcomes were fostered, and highlights the significance of family involvement, heartfelt disclosure and life reminiscence to local patients and families in palliative end-of-life care.