Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T14:59:11.637Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The loneliness experience of the dying and of those who care for them

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2007

AMI ROKACH ,
RAAN MATALON ,
ARTEM SAFAROV  and
MICHAELA BERCOVITCH
AMI ROKACH
Affiliation:
The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychosocial Stress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
RAAN MATALON
Affiliation:
The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychosocial Stress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ARTEM SAFAROV
Affiliation:
The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Psychosocial Stress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MICHAELA BERCOVITCH
Affiliation:
Palliative Care Department, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective: The study compared the qualitative aspects of the loneliness experience of the dying, their caregivers, and the general population.

Method: The patients were recruited in an oncological hospice in Israel, and, despite being on their deathbed, agreed to participate in the study. Thirty-seven cancer-stricken patients, 78 caregivers, and 128 participants from the general population volunteered to partake in the study. They answered, anonymously, a 30-item questionnaire and were asked to endorse those items that described their experience of loneliness.

Results: Results suggested that the three populations did, indeed, differ in their experience of loneliness. More specifically, dying patients and their caregivers had significantly higher subscale scores on the Growth and Discovery and the Self-alienation subscales than the general population did. It was also found that the number of hospitalization days was significantly negatively correlated to the Emotional Distress and Self-alienation subscales.

Significance of results: The present results indicate that loneliness is experienced differently in or out of the hospice and by the dying patient, his or her caregiver, and the general population. This may be the first study to examine the qualitative aspects of the loneliness experienced by the dying and by their caregivers. More research is needed to replicate the present study, using larger samples.

Keywords

LonelinessHospiceCaregiversOncologyCancerDying
Type
Research Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 153 - 159
Copyright
© 2007 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bascom, G.S. (1984). Physical, emotional, and cognitive care of dying patients. Bulletin of The Menninger Clinic, 48, 351–356.Google Scholar
Canine, J.D. (1996). Death: Awareness and anxiety. In The Psychological Aspects of Death and Dying, Canine, J.D. (Ed.), pp. 3–16. Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange.
Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Shucter, S., Hutchin, S., et al. (2002). Depression and grief reactions in hospice caregivers: From pre-death to 1 year afterwards. Journal of Affective Disorders, 69, 53–60.Google Scholar
Cherry, K. & Smith, D. (1993). Sometimes I cry: The experience of loneliness for men with AIDS. Health Communication, 5, 181–208.Google Scholar
Connor, S.R. (1998). Hospice: Practice, pitfalls, and promise. Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
Cutrona, C.E. (1982). Transition to college: Loneliness and the process of social adjustment. In Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy, Peplau, L.A. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), pp. 291–309. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
Doka, K.J. (1997). When illness is prolonged: Implications for grief. In Living with Grief When Illness Is Prolonged, Doka, K.J. (Ed.), pp. 5–16. Washington, DC: Hospice Foundation of America.
Faull, C. & Woof, R. (2002). Palliative Care: An Oxford Core Text. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hansson, R.O., Jones, W.H., Carpenter, B.N., et al. (1986). Loneliness and adjustment to old age. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 24, 41–53.Google Scholar
Jones, W.H., Rose, J., & Russell, D. (1990). Loneliness and social anxiety. In Handbook of Social and Evaluation Anxiety, Leitenberg, H. (Ed.), pp. 247–266. New York: Plenum.
Mangan, P.A., Taylor, K.C., Yabroff, K.R., et al. (2003). Caregiving near the end of life: Unmet needs and potential solutions. Palliative and Supportive Care, 1, 247–253.Google Scholar
McWhirter, B.T. (1990). Review of current literature with implications for counseling and research. Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 417–422.Google Scholar
Medora, H. & Woodward, J.C. (1986). Loneliness among adolescent college students at a mid-western university. Adolescence, 21, 391–402.Google Scholar
Perlman, D. (2004). European and Canadian studies of loneliness among seniors. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23, 181–188.Google Scholar
Rainer, J.P. & McMurry, P.E. (2002). Caregiving at the end of life. Psychotherapy in Practice, 58, 1421–1431.Google Scholar
Rando, T. (1984). Grief, Dying and Death. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
Rokach, A. (1988). Theoretical approaches to loneliness: From a univariate to a multidimensional experience. Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 19, 225–254.Google Scholar
Rokach, A. (2000). Loneliness and the life cycle. Psychological Reports, 86, 629–642.Google Scholar
Rokach, A. (2005). Caring for those who care for the dying: Coping with the demands on palliative care workers. Palliative and Supportive Care, 3, 325–332.Google Scholar
Rokach, A. & Brock, H. (1997). Loneliness: A multidimensional experience. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 34, 1–9.Google Scholar
Rokach, A. & Rokach, B. (2005). The dying and the living: Caring for the patient and the professional who treats him/her. Presented at the 8th Annual Conference of the Israeli Palliative Medicine Society, Tzfat, Israel, May 19, 2005.
Rook, K.S. (1988). Toward a more differentiated view of loneliness. In Handbook of Personal Relationships: Theory, Research and Intervention, Duck, S. (Ed.), pp. 571–589. Toronto: Wiley.
Tang, S.L., McCorkle, R., & Bradley, E.H. (2004). Determinants of death in an inpatient hospice for terminally ill cancer patients. Palliative and Supportive Care, 2, 361–370.Google Scholar
Vachon, M.L.S. (1998). How to Successfully Live with Cancer. Unpublished manuscript.
Van Bommel, H. (1992). Dying for Care: Hospice Care or Euthenesia. Toronto: NC Press.
Vincenzi, H. & Grabowsky, F. (1987). Measuring the emotional/social aspects of loneliness and isolation. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 2, 257–270.Google Scholar