End of Life Care and the Role of the Psychologist
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
4-11-2017
Description
As technological and medical advances have allowed for more effective medical treatment of individuals in the United States, many patients live extended periods of time with progressive, and, often, co-morbid chronic illnesses. This in turn leads to exponentially higher numbers of patients requiring end of life care within hospice and palliative care systems. Few individuals in any healthcare profession choose to specialize in end of life care, and education and training in this field are not integrated sufficiently into general professional training. As such, the general health care workforce is not being prepared in the basic competencies in working with patients at the end of life. The most promising avenue for end of life care is in integrated delivery systems that operate with the goal of coordinating palliative and hospice care across settings to provide comprehensive advocacy, information, assistance, and management from diagnosis through disease progression and end of life to bereavement care. Two national systems have established the most progressive and integrated approaches to end of life care: the Veteran's Administration (VA) health system and the United States Department of Corrections and Federal Bureau of Prisons health systems. To meet the complex goals of end of life care, a multidimensional, integrated approach with multiple health care professionals, including psychologists, must be applied. Of professionals currently providing end of life care as part of an integrated team, psychologists have been notably absent. Little evidence suggests that mental health oriented disciplines have considered end of life issues to be an important area. More troublesome is the evidence that other professions do not generally view psychologists as central to end of life decision-making and care. The process of dying, from diagnosis to death, is a complex phenomenon causing physical, psychological, existential, interpersonal, and spiritual distress. No profession is better equipped to working with this complexity at the individual, provider, and system levels than psychologists. Grounded in the review of current end of life care models and protocols, a proposal for the potential role of the psychologist will be defined at patient, family, and system levels including roles within provision of care, the healthcare team, providing education, research and program development. Psychologists have the ability to transform the way we care for people at the end of their lives because of the unique skills and expertise the profession can add to the existing foundation of care.
Location
Johnson City, TN
Citation Information
LeMay, Carrie C.; Cantrell, Peggy; and Stinson, Jill D.. 2017. End of Life Care and the Role of the Psychologist. Oral Presentation. Appalachian Student Research Forum, Johnson City, TN.