Palyatif Bakım Ünitesinde Hastası Olan Ailelerin Psiko-Sosyal Sorunları ve İhtiyaçları

Abstract

This study aims at determining the psycho-social problems and needs of the family members as accompaniers of the patients under care in the palliative care center from social work perspective. The study was conducted through phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research method designs. The research data were collected via in-depth interview technique, which is the main data collection technique of phenomenological approach, by using semi-structured interview form. The 24 participants of the study, 16 female and 8 male, were the family members as accompaniers of the patients under care in the palliative care center of Ankara Gülhane Training and Research Hospital and Samsun Education And Research Hospital The collected data were transferred to the computer by the researcher herself and were analyzed thematically via MAXODA. As a result of the thematical analysis, five themes were generated: “Disease and Hospital Processes”, “Psychological Dimension”, “Social Dimension”, “Financial Dimension”, “Coping Periods”, “Findings Regarding the Effects of the Pandemic”. It was found that the female accompanier family members took the responsibility of the patients under care in the palliative care center. It was also determined that the interviewed families had difficulties in meeting the treatment and care expenses. It was observed that as the family members stay at the care center with their patients, they are socially disconnected from their families and friends, and so they need to communicate with the families of the other patients. Another conclusion is that because the patients in these centers had a life-threatening illness, their family members are under intense stress and need psychosocial support. On the other hand, it was inferred that because the palliative care team members and family members had insufficient knowledge, and the fact that the number of the professional staff at these centers was low, the family members could not benefit from the psychosocial support mechanisms. At this point, it was noted that families mostly apply to religious practices and individual hobbies as coping mechanisms. It was concluded that the pandemic process increased the psychosocial problems brought by palliative care. It has been seen that the findings obtained from this research support the main problem of the research, that family members have as much difficulty as their patients in the palliative care process and they are ignored.