Simple Life Review for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients with Low Cognitive Function

Michiyo Ando, Hiromi Minota, Chika Shibukawa, Haruko Kira

Faculty of Nursing, St. Mary’s College, Faculty of Nursing, Kurume city, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Kurume University, Fukuoka, Japan.
St. Mary’s Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/jct.2012.35068                

Abstract

Objective: The aims of the study were to develop a Simple Life Review Interview as psychotherapy for terminally ill cancer patients with slight cognitive impairment, and to examine the feasibility and effects of this approach on spiritual well-being and quality of life. Methods: The participants were 5 terminally ill cancer patients in a palliative care unit. They completed questionnaires for the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual (FACIT-Sp) scale, Good Death Inventory (Hope, Burden, Human Relationship, Respect as an Individual), and Distress and Impact Thermometer. Results: The Simple Life Review Interview consisted of viewing a DVD and reviewing the patient's life using questions that are applicable to terminally ill cancer patients with slight cognitive impairment. Overall, the FACIT-Sp score and the scores for Hope, Human Relationship, and Respect as an Individual on the Good Death Inventory increased, while the Burden score and the Distress and Impact Thermometer score decreased. However, there were some exceptions to these results. Conclusion: The Simple Life Review is feasible for terminally ill cancer patients with some cognitive impairments, and might be effective for improving spiritual well-being, Good Death, and psychological distress in these patients.

Keywords

Psychotherapy; Simple Life Review; Terminally Ill Patients; Spiritual Well-Being; Quality of Life

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	C. J. Nelson, B. Rosenfeld, W. Breitbart and M. Galietta, “Spirituality, Religion, and Depression in the Terminally Ill,” Psychosomatics, Vol. 43, No. 3, 2002, pp. 213-220.doi:10.1176/appi.psy.43.3.213
[2]	C. S. McClain, B. Rosenfeld and W. Breitbart, “Effect of Spiritual Well-Being on End-of-Life Despair in Terminally-Ill Patients,” Lancet, Vol. 361, No. 9369, 2003, pp. 1603-1607. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13310-7
[3]	W. Breitbart, B. Rosenfeld, H. Pessin, M. Kaim, J. Funesti-Esch, M. Galietta, et al., “Depression, Hopelessness, and Desire for Hastened Death in Terminally Ill Patients with Cancer,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 284, No. 22, 2000, pp. 2907-2911. doi:10.1001/jama.284.22.2907
[4]	H. Murata and T. Morita, “Conceptualization of Psycho-Existential Suffering by the Japanese Task Force: The First Step of a Nationwide Project,” Palliative and Supportive Care, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2006, pp. 279-285.doi:10.1017/S1478951506060354
[5]	M. Miyashita, T. Morita, K. Sato, K. Hirai, Y. Shima and Y. Uchitomi, “Good Death Inventory: A Measure for Evaluating Good Death from the Bereaved Family Member’s perspective,” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 35, No. 5, 2008, pp. 486-498.doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.07.009
[6]	M. Ando, A. Tsuda and T. Morita, “Life Review Interviews on the Spiritual Well-Being of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients,” Supportive Care in Cancer, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2007, pp. 225-231.
[7]	B. V. Wegberg, M. Bacchi, P. Heusser, S. Helwig, R. Schaad, E. V. Rohr, et al. “The Cognitive-Spiritual Dimension: An Important Addition to the Assessment of Quality of Life: Validation of a Questionnaire (SELT-M) in Patients with Advanced Cancer,” Annals of Oncology, Vol. 9, No. 10, 1998, pp. 1091-1096.doi:10.1023/A:1008343219970
[8]	M. Ando, T. Morita, T. Akechi and T. Okamoto, (Japanese Task Force for Spiritual Care), “Efficacy of Short- Term Life Review Interviews on the Spiritual Well-Being of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients,” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 39, No. 6, 2010, pp. 993-102. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.11.320
[9]	A. H. Peterman, G. Fitchett, M. J. Brady, L. H. Pharm and D. Cella, “Measuring Spiritual Well-Being in People with Cancer: The Functional Assessment of Chronic Ill- ness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp),” Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2002, pp. 49-58. doi:10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_06
[10]	M. Ando, T. Morita and T. Akechi, “Factors in Narratives to Questions in the Short-Term Life Review Interviews of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients and Utility of the Questions,” Palliative and Supportive Care, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2012, pp. 1-8
[11]	W. Noguchi, T. Ohno, S. Morita, O. Aihara, H. Tsujii, K. Shimozuma, et al. “An Investigation of Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual (FACIT-Sp),” Japanese Journal of General Hospital Psychiatry, Vol. 16, 2004, pp. 42-47.
[12]	N. Akizuki, S. Yamawaki, T. Akechi, T. Nakano and Y. Uchitomi, “Development of an Impact Thermometer for use in Combination with the Distress Thermometer as a Brief Screening Tool for Adjustment Disorders and/or Major Depression in Cancer Patients,” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2005, pp. 91-99. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2004.04.016
[13]	H. M. Chochinov, T. Hack, T. Hassard, L. J. Kristjanso, S. McClement and M. Harlos, “Dignity Therapy: A Novel Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Patients near the End of Life,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 23, No. 24, 2005, pp. 5520-5525. doi:10.1200/JCO.2005.08.391
[14]	M. Miyashita, M. Sanjyo, T. Morita, K. Hirai and Y. Uchitomi, “Good Death in Cancer Care: A Nationwide Quantitative Study,” Annals of Oncology, Vol. 18, No. 6, 2007, pp. 1090-1097. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdm068
[15]	M. Miyashita, T. Morita, K. Sato, K. Hirai, Y. Shima and Y. Uchitomi, “Factors Contributing to Evaluation of a Good Death from the Bereaved Family Member’s Perspective,” Psycho-oncology, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2008, pp. 612-620. doi:10.1002/pon.1283
[16]	K. E. Steinhauser, N. A. Christakis, E. C. Clipp, M. McNeilly, L. McIntyre L and J. A. Tulsky, “Factors Considered Important at the End of Life by Patients, Family, Physicians, and Other Care Providers,” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 284, No. 19, 2000, pp. 2476-2482. doi:10.1001/jama.284.19.2476