Der-Heuy Yee
Institude of Ethnic Relation and Culture Don Hwa University
Shih-Ming Shih
Department of Family Madicine Tzu-chi Hospital
Shu-Yi Shia
Graduate Institute of Religious and Cultural Studies Tzu-chi University
Ing-Wei Wong
Department of Family Madicine Tzu-chi Hospital
This paper is an extension of a long-term research program in palliative care. Based upon our understanding about the dying process, we would like to further discuss the psychological processes that affiliated caregivers (including parents, husband/wife, children, relatives, or friends) will go through, then move on to propose a new approach of bedside companionship for the dying patients. At the same time, this research builds on psychological counseling and expands it to psycho-spiritual care, which emphasizes not on changing the patients but on bedside companionship . The research results shows that two patterns of care are emerged during the different stages of patients’ condition: while the patient still remained in the social consciousness, the most fitted care will be ‘ a better management of bedside-things’, bu5 as the inward-turning happened, the better care will be the psychological calmness, silence by bedside and do nothing. As the dying arrives at the active dying stage, his mode of being will be deprived of the ego mentality, which will then lead to a breach between he caregivers and the dying patients, and bar the former from accessing the latter. The operational procedures for the caregivers to get into the existential mode of “being-with-the-patient,” which allow both parties to share tenderness, mercy, compassion, and god-like love is examined and the possible mechanism of patient-caregiver coupling theory for bedside companionship is explored.
Keywords: palliative care, psycho-spiritual companionship, coupling theory for beside companionship