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Exploring the Associations of Comfort, Relatedness States, and Life-Closure in Hospice Patients

Hansen, Dana M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1354832063

Abstract Details

2013, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Nursing.
This cross-sectional survey study investigated the associations among the concepts of comfort, relatedness states, and life-closure, which are integral to understanding family interaction at the end of life. The conceptual frameworks that informed the study were Comfort Theory (Kolcaba, 2003) and Relatedness Theory (Hagerty, Lynch-Sauer, Patusky & Bouwsema, 1993). A convenience sample of 30 hospice participants completed the Hospice Comfort Questionnaire, Verbal Rating Comfort Scale, two Relatedness States Visual Analog Scales, the Life-Closure Scale and two exploratory questions concerning family interaction activities. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Graphical analysis, using an x-y scatter plot, displayed the states of relatedness. The older, predominantly female participants were interviewed either in their homes (n =15) or in the hospice inpatient setting (n = 15). Life closure was associated with participant’s reported levels of involvement (r = .36, p = .001) and comfort (r = .35, p= .06) in relationships. There was a significant difference between location of participants and levels of relatedness. Inpatient participants had higher levels of involvement (t (18) = -2.07, p = .05) and comfort (t (28) = - 2.06, p = .05) in their relationships compared to participants residing in the home setting. Concurrent validity of the Verbal Rating Comfort Scale to the Hospice Comfort Questionnaire was established in this sample and comfort had a strong, statistically significant (r = .69, p = <.001) association with life-closure. A researcher-designed questionnaire elicited family interaction information, with the majority of reported interactions categorized as companionship. The results of this study reinforced previous findings, which found that social support, in the form of family interaction that is not associated with the physical tasks of caregiving, is important for life-closure and life-closure and comfort are important concepts at the end of life. An interesting finding was the higher levels of involvement and comfort in relationships in the inpatient setting.
Patricia Higgins, PhD (Committee Chair)
Polly Mazanec, PhD (Committee Member)
Camille Warner, PhD (Committee Member)
Elizabeth Weinstein, MD (Committee Member)
Murray Mayo, PhD (Other)
93 p.
Health Care; Nursing
end-of-life; hospice; comfort at the end-of-life; Life-closure; relatedness states at the end-of-life

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hansen, D. M. (2013). Exploring the Associations of Comfort, Relatedness States, and Life-Closure in Hospice Patients [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1354832063

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hansen, Dana. Exploring the Associations of Comfort, Relatedness States, and Life-Closure in Hospice Patients. 2013. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1354832063.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hansen, Dana. "Exploring the Associations of Comfort, Relatedness States, and Life-Closure in Hospice Patients." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1354832063

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1354832063
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.