Working with Patients During the Death and Dying Process - Research Paper Example

Topic: Psychology Topic: U10d1 By this unit, you should have completed an interview of a professional caregiver with experiences on caring for individuals and working with families who are going through the process of death and dying. (please just answer the questions in accordance to knowledge of readings) Your post should have the following two part.  Summary of the Interview  Include the following your summary:  • Identify how the caregiver takes into consideration his or her patients' age, culture, family structure, et cetera, in working with patients during the death and dying process.  • Identify the challenges and rewards in working with individuals in this stage of the lifespan.  • Summarize additional insights the caregiver was able to share and provide during the interview.  • Provide a write-up from the perspective of your area of specialization, if you were able to tailor your interview in that direction.  Connection to Your Experiences  Using the information that you have gained from the brief interview and your own cultural background, complete the following:  • Describe how your family of origin views the process of death.  • Describe how you have seen your family grieve or mourn for an older relative who has died. If you have never experienced this, how do you think they would deal with the death of an older relative?  • Compare and contrast how your own culture copes with death to how other cultures cope with death. Use the readings from this unit and your independent research to support the comparison and contrast of the subject.  • Identify general themes that are present across many cultural approaches in dealing with death and dying.  • Explain how this information will be useful to you in your work as a counsellor.  In managing the issues of elderly, Jane, a caregiver, expressed that the protection of the patients should be accorded with coherence and sensitivities to their respective ages especially those that demand a multi-dimension healthcare system to enjoy the meaning and relation with the family members or dependents (Gallagher, Wagenfeld, Baro, & Haepers, 1994). Jane explicated that caregiving demands serious commitment and constant communication with the family members to ascertain that medical concerns and challenges pertaining to elderly care will be provided coherently and satisfactorily. Aside from that, family members should know the behavioral changes and development of the elderly so that proper responses and adaptability to changes can be affected. They should know that an elderly may have sudden rhapsody of memory of the past as the patient slowly succumbed to his/her illness and, thus, cognition may at times pose a challenge for them. Moreover, it is also the duty of the caregiver to inform the family members of the right kind of food, activities and number of visitors allowed to see the elderly patient. Some details must also be observed like the amount of lighting and music that may be accorded to the patient, or the silence needed for respite or calming down (Gallagher, Wagenfeld, Baro, & Haepers, 1994).They should also be informed that the dying will usually have diminished sensory system because their cognitive, visual, taste, smell and hearing capacities are weakened (Newman & Newman, 2012). The impairment of the sensory system poses feelings of helplessness and means that they would need more support in this case (Newman & Newman, 2012). It means that the elder will be dependent on family members to sustain their adaptation required in sustaining life in the remainder of one’s days (Newman & Newman, 2012). In case the patient needs to be massaged regularly, the same should be taught to the family members to ascertain that service is given in case of caregiver’s absence. Details about how the physical care, bathing, and grooming of the patient should also be communicated, including the medications required. They should know the signals when emergency care is demanded. The interaction with family members here is significant to permeate or facilitate the immediate acceptance while patient is slowly progressing toward death. This is significant to reduce denials. Further, it should be communicated to the family too how much time or days are left for the patient to prepare them in the organization of post mortem eventualities. It will also give them reasonable decision whether or not to sustain the patient’s hospitalization or to bring him/her back home. This relates to the financial aspect of medication, too. The family should be cognizant about the incessant changes of elderly needs that could occur overtime and the alterations of behaviors depending on the mode and its resiliency to one’s condition. Sometimes, a patient could be resigned and other times, needing interaction albeit he/she is nearing the end-of-life cycle. The relation within the family of the patient can also determine if he or she will be comfortable to spend his/her remaining days with them or not. Uncaring family members and conflicts can at times cause more stress to patient. Such should be also considered too. The caregiver likewise needs to document the progress of the patient while under healthcare in the hospice. Each family has specific culture and this has strong influence on behavior toward death. This all depends on the kind of social relationship adopted, the economic status of the family, their coping mechanism and their goal orientation (Newman & Newman, 2012). Psychologically, those most dependent on the dying will express denial and acceptance takes time. In some cultures, religious family has the belief that dying is actually returning home to God and such is part of the perfection of life. Thus, the Bible professed that human beings came from dust and must return to dust but the soul will return to God the Father. This is the reason why there are religious rites before the burial. Other cultures perceive that death is a simple termination of life and the scientific point of mortality. They maintain the value of socialization and keep themselves busy albeit the dying condition of one family member (Newman & Newman, 2012). There were those who treated death as just a cyclical pattern of life. Oriental philosophers, however, perceived that death is not the end in itself but another stage of life’s progression. They believed that there is reincarnation and that dead will come back to live again maybe in a different dimension or in a different lifetime. Western and other advanced countries have adopted the practice of turning their aged family member to the hospice or institution for geriatrics working for the elderly so that they can still unburden themselves from the hassles or dilemma of managing the elderly and continue their economic activities. But whatever belief of cultural influences, the caregiver should maintain sensibilities to cultural practices of the family of the dying to ascertain that they are able to decide well in the disposition of their dead family member and to satisfy their customs. This way, they are also able to settle the emotional side of managing the issues of the dying. u10d2 Personal Reflection  Take some time in this unit to reflect on what you have learned about human development and behaviour, and how this knowledge can help you to apply counselling practices with clients.  • What did you learn in this course that will help you to be more effective in your counselling work?  • What did you learn through this course about your own professional identity?  • What are some questions or topics that have been spurred from this broad look into the lifespan?  • What are the goals that you can identify that will help you to continue professional development in this area?  • How can the experiences of this course help you in your work as a counselor? The course refreshed me about the stages of human development from childhood, mid-life and aging. I learned that substantial developments in middle adulthood especially the trajectories of ‘sense of self’ and in the manner on how they build their lives within a given age context. As the person mature, personality development occurs but with sets of priorities, choices, and decisions that contribute much to person’s stability and in the preservation of dignity whilst sustaining relations with families and friends (Newman & Newman, 2012). These changes could either be normative, i.e., maturation, or non-normative. This is what was affirmed by Maslow and Rogers, advocates of humanism, when they professed that middle age is a stage for more positive change. I learned that adults are more concerned about parenting and grand-parenting, teaching or mentorship, productivity or creativity, self-development, and maintenance of the world (Newman & Newman, 2012, pp. 528–560). Those in the middle age uphold the virtue of care. When maturity is reached, adults are generally more accepting about the terms of life and can readily opt for what is comfortably satisfying. They are likely engaged in upholding intellectual pursuits and accede to more roles as they are more adaptive to changes or opportunities (Newman & Newman, 2012). They also like to communicate hope although they are beginning to accept the reality and facticity of death. A significant aspect in the process of maturation here is the acceptance of one’s mortality and a graceful surrender of youthful zeal as death comes (Newman & Newman, 2012). The middle aged adults are more reflective as they venture more on life’s meaning and the youths revere them with respect. Thus, the adults have certain psychological preference for autonomy, sense of purposiveness, and value for achievement for a dignified life. I further learned that caregiving requires not only substantial knowledge on medical issues but also about human developments, psychology, culture and flexibility in relating the family of the patient. My identity, therefore, needs to be a mixture of medical, sociological, anthropological and psychological knowledge to be able to provide acceptable counsel for the elderly and his family. It likewise showed that empirical-based reflection for caregiver deepens one’s appreciation of his roles and responsibilities as health provider. This showed that medical practice is also interrelated to emotion, values, problem-solving capacity and culture. It reminded me that caregiver should be adaptive to situation and must be equipped with multi-knowledge about how to relate with the family of the dying pragmatically. It also encourages flexibility in the integration of knowledge to caregiving practice to provide service satisfaction. This course provided me deeper insights in understanding the psychology of the adults and the elderly, and, thus, put me in a deeper context in relating with the elderly. The insights provided better vantage how to relate with the family of the dying or the dead person and to be culture sensitive, too. It also helps recognize my limitations while recognizing the significance of open communication and socio-emotional interaction with the family. Some of the questions that are spurred in this lifespan are questions pertaining to life after death. This is, however, very difficult to fathom since there is no empirical based studies that can explicate this. Although death is certain and poses varied meanings to different culture but there are significant ideation of this experience that remained unexplored. To deepen more my knowledge on human development, my goal is to study more on human development theory and to document some experiences that may contribute in enhancing my profession as a counsellor. The theories learned from this course also encouraged me to advocate a meaningful life and take stance on the preservation of life and let the dying opt for a dignified death, hence, reject euthanasia or mercy killing as an alternative. References Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2012). Chapter 13: Later Adulthood. In: Development through life: A psychosocial approach (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Pp. 528–560. Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2012). Chapter 14: Elderhood. A psychosocial approach. In: Development through life: A psychosocial approach (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Pp. 564-621. Gallagher, T. J., Wagenfeld, M. O., Baro, F., Haepers, K. (1994). Sense of coherence, coping and caregiver role overload. Social Science & Medicine, 39(12), 1615-1622. Read More