Palliative care and risk of burnout syndrom

Martin Kupka

Abstract

The negative impact of the onerous prosocial activity has been examined in a great bulk of psychological research studies. Under certain conditions, taking care of the elderly, terminally ill, and the death ward might be quite a demanding activity. Its consequences may be reflected in the health condition of the care provider. Caring for a dying or an immobile elderly person, often with a progressive dementia, is very challenging for the provider. Servicing a chronically ill or terminally ill people might become a long-term burden. Servicing a dying person and working with his or her family relatives is an extremely burdening situation. The extreme emotional reactions, primarily anger and various kinds of rage, are unusually thorny to manage. Consequently, people that are engaged in helping these people are generally endangered in all spheres of their health, i.e. physical, mental and social. Providing care to terminally ill is burdensome in the long run. It is known as chronic stress. Any kind of chronic stress has a potentially negative impact on human beings. Previous research indicates that long-term chronic burden might cause cardiovascular diseases, disorders of immunity, non-specific backaches, and digestive disorders. The special issue is a burnout syndrome.

(Fulltext in Czech)

Keywords

helping career, prosocial activity, stress, palliative care, burnout syndrome

Literature

Balint, M. (1999). Lékař, jeho pacient a nemoc. Praha: Grada.

Boleloucký, Z. (1998). Psychiatrie a lékařská psychologie v paliativní medicíně. Brno: Vydavatelství MU.

Dostálová, O. (1986). Psychoterapeutické přístupy k onkologicky nemocným. Praha: Avicenum.

Dunlop, R. J. and Hockley, J.M. (1990). Terminal care support teams the hospital – hospice interface. New York: Oxford University Press.

Haškovcová, H. (2000). Thanatologie. Praha: Galén.

Holeksová, T. (2002). Ležící člověk v domácím prostředí. Praha: Grada Publishing.

Kebza, V., Šolcová, I. (1998). Burnout syndrom: teoretická východiska, diagnostické a intervenční možnosti. Československá psychologie, roč. XLII, č. 5, str. 429 – 427.

Kondáš, O., Kordačová, J. (1990). Alexithýmia a jej metodické zachytenie. Československá psychologie, roč. XXXIV, č. 5, str. 411 – 419.

Křivohlavý, J. (1998). Jak neztratit nadšení. Praha: Grada.

Maslach, C., Goldberg, J. (1998). Prevention of burnout. New perspectives, applied and preventive psychology, 7, str. 63 – 74.

Rowe, M. M. (1997). Hardiness, stress, temperament, coping and burnout in health professionals. American journal health behavioral, 21, str. 163 – 171.

Severová, J. (ed.). (1999). Zátěž pečovatelských týmů u těžce a chronicky nemocných pacientů. In Gerontologické dny. Ostrava: Barrister.

Show all Hide