Assessment of the basic needs and interventions of terminally ill patients : basis for hospice care education program for primary caregivers / Manimtim, Manuela K. 6

Thesis (M.A.) -- Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Intramuros, Manila, 2011.;A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Health Sciences, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing. 56

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ABSTRACT. The number of terminal illness arising from cancer and other irreversible diseases is growing rapidly in our country and abroad. Care and not cure is what most of the terminally ill patients deserve. Caring for them in the hospitals entails a lot of expenses for the families. With the present financial crisis, it will be hard for the primary caregivers to confine their patients in the hospital. Caring for them at home demands a lot from the primary caregivers. They need the necessary competencies-knowledge, skill and attitude to be able to assess and intervene with the basic knees/ problems (physical, psychosocial and spiritual) of the terminally ill patients. Unfortunately, most of the caregivers are ill equipped with the needed competencies to provide quality care towards the fulfillment of a peaceful and dignified death. This study aimed to assess the basic needs and the interventions of the terminally ill patients and the results will serve as the basis in developing a Hospice Care Program for the primary caregivers. Specifically, it sought to answer the following: (1) what is the profile of the respondents in terms of relationship to the parent, educational attainment, monthly income and religious affiliation? (2) What are the basic needs of the terminally ill patients in terms of physical, psychosocial and spiritual? (3) What are the interventions done for these basic needs in terms of physical, psychosocial and spiritual? (4) Is there a significant difference between the interventions when grouped according to the respondents' profile-relationship to the patient, educational attainment, monthly income and religious affiliation? (5) Based on the results, what Hospice Care Education Program could be developed? This research is limited to all the primary caregivers of terminally ill patients enrolled in Madre de Amor from September to October 2010 and May 2011. All the patients were 38-70 years old, male or female who are terminally ill and needing hospice care. Caregivers of terminally ill patients, who died six months before the survey, were also included in the study. A researcher made survey questionnaire was validated and pre-tested before it was administered to the respondents. Data collection started from September 2010 to May 2011. The data collected were treated using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage distribution, means and inferential statistics such as t-test. The results showed that among the basic needs (physical, psychosocial and spiritual), the spiritual need got the highest percentage. It was also the one that got the lowest weighted mean when it comes to the extent of interventions done. There is only a significant difference between the physical interventions when grouped according to the relationship of the respondent to the patient, but the psychosocial and the spiritual have no significant differences with the other profiles such as educational attainment, monthly income and religious affiliation. The following recommendations are hereby given based on the results and conclusions made: (1) A Hospice Care Education Program for primary caregivers be developed. (2) That medical and allied health professionals be involved in the program to share their expertise in educating the primary caregivers. (3) That linkages with public, private sectors and other civic organizations and even churches be done to avail of their goods and services for the caregiver. (4) That the results of the study be presented to Padre de Amor and the Hospice Care Education Program be given for further evaluation and be used if they find this helpful. (5) That a similar study be done for the other age groups like children and adolescents. (6) That a hospice center be set up for those terminally ill patients who really do not have caregivers and no facilities where they could be taken care of.

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