Friday 30 September 2016

'Dignity therapy', a promising intervention in palliative care: A comprehensive systematic literature review

Palliative Medicine, 2016, August 26th
Marina Martínez, María Arantzamendi, Alazne Belar, José Miguel Carrasco, Ana Carvajal, María Rullán, Carlos Centeno

Dignity therapy is psychotherapy to relieve psychological and existential distress in patients at the end of life.  The evidence from this review suggests that dignity therapy is beneficial. One randomized controlled trial with patients with high levels of psychological distress shows DT efficacy in anxiety and depression scores. Other design studies report beneficial outcomes in terms of end-of-life experience. Further research should understand how dignity therapy functions to establish a means for measuring its impact and assessing whether high level of distress patients can benefit most from this therapy.
  
Full text available in Palliative Medicine
Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital