Rediscovering the Art of Healing Connection by Creating the Tree of Life Poster: A Pilot Program for Hospitalized Older Adults

Abstract

The goal of this project was to provide a way for hospital staff to form meaningful therapeutic relationships with patients in the fast-paced hospital environment. Watson's Theory of Human Caring was the framework guiding the project. The Lifestory intervention was a Tree of Life poster depicting sources of encouragement and enjoyment, special memories, life lessons, family, and roots. Preintervention and postintervention measures included quality of life (QOL) and spirituality scales with established psychometrics. A one-sample t test was used to analyze data. Mean age of participants (n = 15) was 73.8. Ten (67%) patients reported the intervention positively affected their QOL. Improvements were noted in overall QOL (p = 0.05), as well as emotional (p = 0.005), physical (p = 0.02,) and spiritual well-being, as measured by the Expanded Version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (p = 0.02). This simple Lifestory intervention was feasible and associated with improvement in several QOL dimensions in hospitalized older adults.

Self‐transcendence and nurse–patient interaction in cognitively intact nursing home patients

“…Nursing home patients’ relations to the staff nurses have occurred to be a powerful influence on patient’s meaning in life and well‐being (Hollinger‐Samson & Pearson 2000, Haugan Hovdenes 2002, Clarke et al. 2003, Finch 2006, McGilton & Boscart 2007, Heliker 2009, Pipe et al. 2010).…”

“…NH patients are in general extremely vulnerable, characterised by frailty, mortality, disability, powerlessness and dependency; hence, the relationships with the nursing staff are critical to their self‐respect, feelings of self‐worth, dignity and thereby well‐being (Clarke et al. 2003, Heliker 2009, Pipe et al. 2010).…”

The relationship between nurse–patient interaction and meaning‐in‐life in cognitively intact nursing home patients

“…As nursing home patients generally are extremely vulnerable, characterized by frailty, mortality, disability, powerlessness and dependency, interaction with professional caregivers is critical to their self-respect, feelings of selfworth, dignity and meaning-in-life (Clarke et al 2003, Heliker 2009, Pipe et al 2010, Burack et al 2012. Nursing practice comprises interwoven relational, moral and practical aspects (Martinsen 1989, N aden & Eriksson 2004, Watson 2007c where nursing care encompasses the patient's fundamental needs, as well as the patient's values and experiences.…”

The Effect of Watson’s Care Model on Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in Turkish Women

“…Other research showed a statistically significant difference from pre- to posttest in terms of styles for coping with stress and infertility impact scores in women receiving infertility treatment if they were exposed to Watson’s care; women in the experimental group developed positive coping methods (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). Another application indicated that, with the guidance from the model, elderly people’s emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being level and quality in late life significantly increased (Pipe, Mishark, Hansen, Hentz, & Hartsell, 2010). Even though the samples from this prior research differ from the current study, the common aspect is the effectiveness of the care suggested by Watson’s model.…”