 Healing connections: on moving from suffering to a sense of well-being Life-threatening illness is an assault on the whole person--physical, psychological,
social, and spiritual. It frequently presents caregiver and sufferer with a
paradox--suffering does not correlate with physical well-being alone. Drawing
on a purposive sample of 21 participants, a phenomenological study [extensive
investigation of the experiences of a small number of subjects to find patterns
or relationships] was carried out to explore the relevance of the existential
and spiritual domains to suffering, healing, and quality of life (QOL). The
phenomenological method was used to achieve an in-depth description of both
existential suffering, and conversely, the experience of integrity and wholeness,
in persons with life-threatening illness; identify inner life and existential
contributors to suffering and subjective well-being in advanced illness; and
develop a narrative account of these QOL extremes. The importance of meaning-based
adaptation to advanced illness was supported, as were Frankl's sources of meaning
and Yalom's sources of existential anguish. Divergent themes characteristic
of the two QOL extremes were identified. Four types of healing connections
involving a sense of bonding to Self, others, the phenomenal world, and ultimate
meaning, respectively, were identified. They situated the participant in a context
that was greater and more enduring than the self, thus leading to enhanced meaning
and QOL. The assumptions underlying the construct health-related QOL
are questioned. Mount BM, Boston PH, Cohen SR. From J
Pain Symptom Manage. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007 Apr;33(4):372-88. |
| Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Beth Israel Medical Center, New York City ©2005 Continuum Health Partners, Inc. www.stoppain.org/palliative_care |
 |