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Person-Centered Palliative Care

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Person Centered Psychiatry

Abstract

Palliative care is by definition the approach of having the person at the center of the intervention (patient-centered care) in the advanced and terminal phases of physical illness. It is important in palliative care to integrate the scientific method with psychological insights and infuse this end-of-life experience with transcendental/existential awareness and the search for meaning and purpose. Interpersonal, psychological, and spiritual needs, as well as psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, stress-related disorders, delirium) and psychosocial conditions (e.g., demoralization, distress and existential pain) need to be addressed by multidisciplinary, person-centered palliative care teams. Therefore, a dignity conserving approach should be part of care of patients in the advanced stage of illness. A series of psychosocial interventions have recently been developed as helpful approaches to be applied in palliative care, including supportive-expressive therapy, meaning-centered psychotherapy, managing cancer, and living meaningfully therapy, and dignity therapy. These interventions, integrated with psychopharmacology when needed, are interventions to heighten the patients’ sense of dignity, to increase their sense of purpose and meaning, to lessen their sense of suffering and to decrease demoralization, anxiety, and depression at the end-of-life. Also, communication skills training and psychosocially oriented intervention for palliative care health professionals have demonstrated to reduce burnout, increase job satisfaction, and, in turn, improve the quality of patient care.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor and Chair of Psychiatry, Program on Psycho-Oncology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Luigi Grassi MD

  2. Professor, Integrated Medical and Psychiatric Services, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michelle Riba MD

  3. University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michelle Riba MD

  4. Director, Psycho-Oncology Program, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Michelle Riba MD

  5. Centre for Palliative Medicine, Medical Ethics and Communication Skills, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Marijana Bras MD

  6. Palliative Medicine Service, Division of Supportive Care and Survivorship, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Paul Glare MD

  7. Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Paul Glare MD

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  1. Luigi Grassi MD
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  2. Michelle Riba MD
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  3. Marijana Bras MD
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  4. Paul Glare MD
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Correspondence to Luigi Grassi MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychiatry, New York University Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Juan E. Mezzich

  2. Laboratory Ethics, Professionalism, University of Western Brittany, Bohars, France

    Michel Botbol

  3. Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    George N. Christodoulou

  4. Department of Psychiatry, WASHINGTON UNIV SCH MED Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

    C. Robert Cloninger

  5. Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, Florida, USA

    Ihsan M. Salloum

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Grassi, L., Riba, M., Bras, M., Glare, P. (2016). Person-Centered Palliative Care. In: Mezzich, J., Botbol, M., Christodoulou, G., Cloninger, C., Salloum, I. (eds) Person Centered Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39724-5_35

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