"… Honestly, we couldn’t have managed without SANAD’s team; they were simply caring, intimate, and very humane in their dealings with our mother and us."
BY DELIVERING PATIENT-CENTRIC, FAMILY-ORIENTED, END-OF-LIFE CARE, OUR PSYCHOLOGISTS AIM TO HELP PATIENTS, FAMILIES, AND SANAD’s INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS, TO AFFIRM HOPE, MEANING, PURPOSE, AND ENCOURAGE CONTINUED LIVING IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING THROUGH COLLECTIVE ACTIONS.
In addition to the psycho-social care provided by our nursing and medical staff, the intervention of the psychologists is essential in certain situations where the patients and their families experience deeper and more pressing clinical psychological needs (issues). The psychologists help patients and their families navigate the salient emotional challenges that characterize living with chronic or life-limiting illness.
Patients may experience fear and anxiety relating to the possible disease progression, and ultimately, dying. Patients may also experience depression associated with a diminished sense of autonomy and purpose. Additionally, and amplified by their increasing dependence on others, patients occasionally report relationship strain resulting from treatment demands and caregiver burden.
The presence of young children in the home also mandates the presence of the psychologists, who can assist in preparing the children for their loved one’s departure, and facilitate the transitions taking place across the family dynamics and new role-transitions. They may experience spiritual or existential angst, crises of faith or hopelessness, questions of meaning, unfinished business, guilt or grief. Our psychologists are also mindful of the positive emotions and sense of well-being that patients and their families can experience, often producing expressions of gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, spiritual comfort, and post-traumatic growth. Our psychologists are constantly familiarizing themselves with a range of developmental, demographic, and socio-cultural/spiritual influences on the experience of serious illness, the dying process, and preferences for end-of-life care. We are always mindful of these factors.