The development and evaluation of an assessment tool to predict maladjustment of bereaved families in palliative care settings

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K04170
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Clinical psychology
• Research Institution: Kobe Shoin Women's University
• Principal Investigator: OWADA Setsuko 神戸松蔭女子学院大学, 人間科学部, 教授 (10340936)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 遺族ケア / アセスメントツール / 悲嘆 / 死別 / 看護師 / 緩和ケア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to develop a simple and effective assessment tool for healthcare workers to predict family maladjustment before bereavement of the patient. A prospective survey was conducted before patients’ bereavement to examine the association between the risk assessment by healthcare workers and the bereaved family's response to the questionnaire (ICG,K6,SF-12v2) concerning their psychological status. As a result, bereaved families that were evaluated as “requiring support（high risk）” by the nurse showed exacerbated psychological symptoms, demonstrating that the nurse’s assessment had criterion-related validity (predictive validity). In particular, our findings suggest that “lack of social support” and “financial problems” may serve as crucial predictors of maladjustment of families after bereavement.

Free Research Field

臨床心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

遺族の不適応を予測するための標準化されたアセスメントツールは国内では開発されていない。患者の死別前から看護師が家族のリスク評価を行い、患者の死別後に遺族自身が精神症状を評価する前方視的研究を実施することにより、アセスメントツールの予測的妥当性を確認できたことは学術的意義があると考える。
また、簡便で使用しやすいアセスメントツールの開発により、介入の必要性の高い遺族を早期に予測し、限られた資源を有効に活用することが可能となり、医療従事者や遺族に対して大いに貢献できると考えられる。