TY - JOUR
T1 - Gratitude among advanced cancer patients and their caregivers
T2 - The role of early palliative care
AU - Borelli, Eleonora
AU - Bigi, Sarah
AU - Potenza, Leonardo
AU - Gilioli, Fabio
AU - Artioli, Fabrizio
AU - Porzio, Giampiero
AU - Porro, Carlo Adolfo
AU - Efficace, Fabio
AU - Bruera, Eduardo
AU - Luppi, Mario
AU - Bandieri, Elena
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Borelli, Bigi, Potenza, Gilioli, Artioli, Porzio, Porro, Efficace, Bruera, Luppi and Bandieri.
PY - 2022/10/24
Y1 - 2022/10/24
N2 - Objective: A cancer diagnosis represents a unique trauma, given its life-threatening, multidimensional, and uncertain nature. Gratitude is a construct representing the emotional state that arises when individuals recognize that a benefit has been received as a result of someone else’s action or a spiritual entity’s intervention. Based on the positive psychological wellbeing, gratitude has been associated with improved health outcomes even in the disease setting. Thus, the models of care that foster gratitude should be adopted in the clinical context. This study aims to explore whether and how gratitude may originate in patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers undergoing early palliative care (EPC). Methods: We analyzed 251 reports from 133 patients and 118 caregivers describing their clinical experience in two EPC units. The sources of gratitude were identified and ranked based on their frequencies. Words expressing gratitude and words referring to communication and spirituality were collected by means of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software and correlated. Results: In total, 123 (92.5%) of 133 patients’ and 97 (82.2%) of 118 caregivers’ reports, respectively, included explicit or implicit expressions of gratitude. Gratitude was associated specifically with successful physical symptom management, emotional support, improved attitude toward death, better information, humanity, and the familiar environment. The use of words of gratitude in patients’ reports was positively correlated with the use of words referring to communication (r =.215, p =.026) and spirituality (r =.612, p <.001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that interventions within the EPC model based on doctor–patient–caregiver communication may allow patients and caregivers to experience a feeling of gratitude, and this may represent a resource to be exploited to improve their physical and psychosocial wellbeing.
AB - Objective: A cancer diagnosis represents a unique trauma, given its life-threatening, multidimensional, and uncertain nature. Gratitude is a construct representing the emotional state that arises when individuals recognize that a benefit has been received as a result of someone else’s action or a spiritual entity’s intervention. Based on the positive psychological wellbeing, gratitude has been associated with improved health outcomes even in the disease setting. Thus, the models of care that foster gratitude should be adopted in the clinical context. This study aims to explore whether and how gratitude may originate in patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers undergoing early palliative care (EPC). Methods: We analyzed 251 reports from 133 patients and 118 caregivers describing their clinical experience in two EPC units. The sources of gratitude were identified and ranked based on their frequencies. Words expressing gratitude and words referring to communication and spirituality were collected by means of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software and correlated. Results: In total, 123 (92.5%) of 133 patients’ and 97 (82.2%) of 118 caregivers’ reports, respectively, included explicit or implicit expressions of gratitude. Gratitude was associated specifically with successful physical symptom management, emotional support, improved attitude toward death, better information, humanity, and the familiar environment. The use of words of gratitude in patients’ reports was positively correlated with the use of words referring to communication (r =.215, p =.026) and spirituality (r =.612, p <.001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that interventions within the EPC model based on doctor–patient–caregiver communication may allow patients and caregivers to experience a feeling of gratitude, and this may represent a resource to be exploited to improve their physical and psychosocial wellbeing.
KW - cancer
KW - caregivers
KW - communication
KW - early palliative care
KW - gratitude
KW - patients
KW - qualitative research
KW - spirituality
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U2 - 10.3389/fonc.2022.991250
DO - 10.3389/fonc.2022.991250
M3 - Article
C2 - 36353529
AN - SCOPUS:85141415115
SN - 2234-943X
VL - 12
JO - Frontiers in Oncology
JF - Frontiers in Oncology
M1 - 991250
ER -