This study reports the effects of sibling death on 33 adolescents from white, middle- to upper-middle income families. Contact was made through mutual support groups for bereaved parents. A focused interview was used to gather data on bereavement…
Helen House, a hospice for children, opened in Oxford in November 1982. From then until December 1983 care was provided for 52 children with terminal illness, progressive and incurable illness, and very severe handicap. The children came from a wide…
The question of suffering and its relation to organic illness has rarely been addressed in the medical literature. This article offers a description of the nature and causes of suffering in patients undergoing medical treatment. A distinction based…
A 3 1/2-year-old boy presented at three months of age with an acute episode of lethargy, somnolence, hypoglycemia, hepatomegaly, and cardiomegaly, which responded poorly to restoration of the blood sugar level to normal. The absence of ketonuria…
This investigation addressed the question of whether mothers and fathers have different problems during a child's fatal illness. A study of 145 parents of children who were treated for cancer or blood disorders at a large urban pediatric hospital and…
• The records of 455 children were reviewed to investigate the relationship of nutritional status at time of first referral to various measurements of disease and survival. Initial symptoms of weight loss, anorexia, fatigue, and early satiety were…
The history of diphosphonates began with studies of inorganic pyrophosphate. This compound was found to occur in many biological fluids and inhibited the precipitation of calcium phosphates. It also slowed the transformation of amorphous calcium…
In rats that were fasted for 2 to 3 days there was a decline in hypothalamic, but not pituitary, beta-endorphin. There was no change in pituitary or hypothalamic adrenocorticotropin content as a result of fasting. Endogenous opiates may be involved…
The aim of this paper is to present findings concerning a variety of factors expected to influence, either directly or indirectly as mediators, the psychological well-being of persons caring for a dementing relative in the community. The sample…
Since the founding of the first hospice in the United States in 1974, the number of health care organizations providing hospice services has grown rapidly. In 1978, the U.S. General Accounting Office identified 59 operational hospices [1]. A survey…
Methodological problems make it difficult to determine whether or not the rate of separation or divorce among families caring for a child with a chronic life-threatening illness such as leukemia, spina bifida, or cystic fibrosis is higher than…
Examined the function of The Compassionate Friends (TCF), a self-help group for effective intervention in the severe bereavement after the death of a child, using a participant observation research method. Three decisions form the framework of the…
Although quantitative estimates of patients' attitudes toward the relative importance of different aspects of health are of great potential usefulness in medical decision making, there is little information about the stability of such values over…
KIE: The widespread consensus that withholding certain life-sustaining treatments, especially those entailing substantial suffering, is sometimes in a patient's best interest conflicts with our basic instincts when the treatments are food and water.…
Longitudinal data from The Rand Corporation's Health Insurance Experiment were used to test the hypothesis that provider continuity can be modeled as one behavioral consequence of patient satisfaction. Bivariate and multivariate analyses (controlling…
A retrospective study of 54 patients who underwent feeding jejunostomy because of dysphagia on a neurologic basis was performed to determine risk factors affecting a postoperative mortality of 33% and six-month mortality of 67%. Advanced patient age,…
We investigated how variations in the way information is presented to patients influence their choices between alternative therapies. Data were presented summarizing the results of surgery and radiation therapy for lung cancer to 238 ambulatory…
Seventeen children with severe pain due to malignant neoplasm were successfully treated with a subcutaneous infusion of morphine sulfate using a syringe pump. Pain relief was adequate in every case without major side effects. The median dosage…
Twenty-four families who had participated in a Home Care Program for children terminally ill with cancer and 13 families of similar children who had died in the hospital completed inventories on parent and sibling personality as well as family…
The results of a survey given to parents with Sanfilippo syndrome (MPS III) children (n = 30) are described with an emphasis in several areas. Developmental and degenerative patterns are outlined in detail and contrasted with developmental milestones…
In a series of patients with the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome a pharmacologic attempt was made to alter the balance of biogenic amines in the central nervous system by increasing the level of serotin. Patients were treated with 5-hydroxytryptophan in…
Cognitive and behavioral pain coping strategies were assessed by means of questionnaire in a sample of 61 chronic low back pain patients. Data analysis indicated that the questionnaire was internally reliable. While patients reported using a variety…
