The effect of the counseling with palliative care conditions of loss and grief in terminal lung-cancer patients.

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine the effect of an individual counseling with palliative care on loss and grief in terminal lung-cancer patients. The sample consisted of 62 terminal lung-cancer patients being treated at Hatyai and Songklanakarind hospital, with a score of loss and grief at 70^th percentile and above. The sample was randomly assigned to experimental group (n = 31) and control group (n=31) using simple random method.  The research instruments included an individual counseling with palliative care guideline, loss and grief test with its reliability of 0.87, and a counseling development record form. Quantitative data were analyzed using percentage mean and standard deviation. The mean difference was tested using t-test and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.

The  research  findings  were  summarized  as  follows : the  experiment  group  with counseling  and  palliative  care  showed  a  lower  level  of  the  conditions  of    loss  and  grief  than  before  the  treatment  at 0.001  level  of  statistical  significance,  and  the  experimental  group  showed  more  reductions  of  the  conditions  of  loss  and  grief  than  the  control  group  with  normal  palliative  care  at 0.001  level  of  statistical  significance.