• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.135-143
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• 2021

End-of-life patients experience physical, mental, social, and existential distress. While medical personnel provide medication and care to alleviate patients' distress, listening to and interacting with patients remains essential for understanding their psychological condition. The most important tool, though difficult to implement in practice, is end-of-life discussion (EOLD). EOLD has been shown to have positive effects on end-of-life treatment choices, achievement of patients' life goals, improvements in the quality of life of patients and their families, and the prevention of depression and complicated grief among bereaved family members. EOLD is not often undertaken in clinical practice, however, due to hesitancy among medical personnel and patients for various reasons. In order to conduct an EOLD, the patient's judgment, psychiatric illnesses such as delirium and depression, and psychological issues such as the side effects of psychotropic drugs, denial, and collusion must be evaluated. Open and honest conversation, treatment goal setting, the doctor's familiarity with the patient's background, and attentiveness when providing information are important elements for any dialogue. Meaning-centered psychotherapy was developed to alleviate the existential distress of cancer patients, and its application may promote EOLD. The future development of meaning-centered psychotherapy in practice and in research is expected to further promote EOLD.

• Yonsei Medical Journal
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.1107-1114
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• 2018

Purpose: This study investigated the effectiveness of meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP), which is known to be a helpful psychotherapeutic intervention in distressing conditions, for patients with pancreatobiliary cancer. Materials and Methods: We recruited 37 patients with pancreatobiliary cancer from three university general hospitals and assessed their psychological characteristics. Patients who reported clinically significant emotional distress were recommended to undergo MCP. Patients who consented to MCP were provided four sessions of the therapy. Patient psychological characteristics were assessed again 2 months after MCP. For statistical comparison, outcome variables included anxiety, depression, mental adjustment to cancer, and quality of life (QoL), as well as the degree of stress and physical symptoms. Results: Sixteen patients completed the MCP and the final assessment 2 months later. In the initial assessment, the patients receiving MCP showed higher levels of anxiety and depression than those not receiving MCP, and QoL was also lower in terms of role function, emotional function, social function, and global QoL. At the 2-month follow-up, the MCP group showed a significant improvement in anxiety (p=0.007), depression (p=0.010), and anxious preoccupation (p<0.001). In addition, QoL significantly improved in the MCP group, while there was no significant change in the non-MCP group. Conclusion: In this study, MCP showed potential therapeutic benefits against emotional distress in patients with pancreatobiliary cancer, improving their QoL.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of the meaning in life for elementary school students. Methods: The conceptual framework was based on the five main concepts (meaning in life, creativity, experiences, attitudes, choice and responsibility) of logotherapy. Data from 1,600 higher grade elementary school students were analyzed for content of meaning in life. Results: The experiences of meaning in life were identified as follows: Important things in my life (people close to me, things that brings me happiness, to live in earnest, surrounding environment), Activities I like to do (relaxing, achievements, family relationships), Experiences that made me feel like I am loved (taken care of by family, material recompense, being respected), Times when I feel grateful (receive love and care, health), Importance of choices (consequences of bad choices, result of good life choices). Conclusion: These results suggest that elementary school students can understand meaning-centered health education and this kind of education is necessary to promote their wholistic health.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.191-201
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• 2019

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of meaning centered and mindfulness-based stress management program with using marine resources on positive changes in mood, sleep, quality of life and cognitive function. Methods : Nine family caregivers of patients with severe disability experienced meaning centered and mindfulness-based stress management program for four-days in marine areas near Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do in South Korea. Subjective questionnaires and objective assessments were conducted and statistically analyzed to examine changes in mood, sleep, quality of life, and cognitive function before, after, and after 6 weeks of participation. Results : After participating in the program, moods including depression improved significantly. This effect lasted until 6 weeks. Participants' sleep quality, quality of life and cognitive function improved significantly after 6 weeks of program participation. Conclusions : This new specialized stress management program using marine resources for family caregivers of patients with severe disability is expected to be used effectively in terms of improving their overall quality of life, mental health status and cognitive efficiency.