Feb 1, 2022
This episode features Prof. María Arantzamendi (Institute for
Culture and Society, ATLANTES, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona,
Navarra, Spain).
Coping is essential to manage the challenges that palliative care
professionals face in their daily clinical work and most well-known
explanations focus on emotion or problem-based coping. Many of
the studies about coping tend to focus on its effect and
consequences. The last review about coping in palliative1 care used
a dichotomous approach for influential factors (risk or
protective), professional and personal strategies.
Coping can include a variety of strategies from proactive coping,
self-care based coping, self-transforming coping and encountering
deep professional meaning. Specific training, healthcare team,
professional motivation and family were found to be sometimes
protective and other times risk factors. Emotional burden and the
systemic or administrative factors always appear as risk factors.
Throughout a dynamic adaptation and learning process over
time, coping strategies and influencing factors become intertwined;
impacting on professional and personal development throughout the
career.
Palliative care professionals coping strategies evolve and change,
being intrinsically related to a progressive and greater response
capacity with respect to emotionally demanding situations.
Coping mechanisms in palliative care imply a personal and
professional development, extending beyond the management of
emotions and problems, or the separation between personal and
environment aspects. The professional development is a central
pillar in training on providing healthcare to others and can be
promoted through training self-awareness. The coping process seemed
to be linked to the development of professional careers in
palliative care.