8/14/2019 Genovese Giampiero

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Pain and other symptoms

Palliative care for cancer patients

Palliative care for non cancer

patients

Paediatric palliative care

Palliative care for the elderly

The actors of palliative care

Latest on drugs

Pain

Illness and suffering through

media

Marginalisation and social stigma

at the end of life

Palliative care advocacy projects

Prognosis and diagnosis

communication in

different cultures

Communication between doctor-

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Religions and cultures versus

suffering, death and

bereavement

Public institution in the world:

palliative care policies

and law

Palliative care: from villages to metropolies

Space, light and gardens for the terminally ill patient

End-of-life ethics

Complementary therapies

Education, training and research

Fund-raising and no-profit

Bereavement support

Volunteering in palliative care

Rehabilitation in palliative care

FAMILYS WITHOUT NETS: BUILDING A PATH OF ACCOMPANYMENT ANDSUPPORT FOR MOURNING IN PALLIATIVE CARE

Authors (max 6, presenting author included): Giampiero Genovese

The greater part of families followed during the assistance of a family member with a terminalillness do not explicitly request support during the anticipated mourning period.Whereas this might suggest therefore the presence of family sharing and adequate communitysupport, the direct experience of caregivers seems to suggest a different reality.The sensation of those involved in Palliative Care, social-sanitary workers and volunteers, is oftenthat of finding themselves in the home of Ivn Ilch the Tolstoy character who discovers notonly that he is physically ill, but that, unexpectedly, he is also quite alone in his journey ofspiritual and existential suffering.But it is not only the terminally ill individual who feels alone; it is often also the family, withinwhich it is difficult to express and share emotions.

With respect to the related community, the families seem to be suspended in a void, withoutsupport nets to sustain them: within our society there seem to be not only architectural barriers,

but also social barriers regarding mourning and death.For this very reason, Antea began a support service for mourning in 2004 for the relatives of

patients and began developing self-help groups open to the community.The information survey taken during the National Convention on mourning in Rome in March of2007, has allowed for awareness to emerge regarding the diffused sense of abandonment and lackof support in this particular phase of life.This work done through interviews and videos offers stimuli for reflection regarding theimportance of continued family assistance after the death of a patient. It proposes a path ofaccompaniment counselling and organized support for mourning, designed with a self-helpapproach, which gives value to the relationships built during the period of assistance, and whichinteracts, with equal dignity, with the terminally ill individual, his or her family members, andthe members of the caregiving team.

Session: Bereavement support

Chair of the session: G.B. Brunjes

Antea Worldwide Palliative Care ConferenceRome, 12-14 November 2008

Giampiero Genovese

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