Supervisors info:
Μυστακίδου Κυριακή, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπουσα
Χατήρα Καλλιόπη, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ψυχολογίας, Σχολή Κοινωνικών Επιστήμων, Πανεπίστημιο Κρήτης
Σακκάς Παύλος, Ομότιμος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The study of the clinical psychological profile of the cancer patients has received
increasing attention and interest in the scientific community, however, more often under
the light of quantitative rather than qualitative research studies, while vast opportunities
for using qualitative methods exist within cancer patients research as far as the palliative
care concept is concerned. Generally, it could be stated that qualitative methods, although
presented in a few studies, can be served as a versatile set of tools and a necessary
complement to quantitative analysis in the field of palliative care, especially for the
patients of this diagnostic category. This study shows, inter alia, how qualitative research
is uniquely positioned to contribute to ongoing clinical trial development and analysis and
provides a demystifying introduction to qualitative methods for interested palliative care
clinicians, clinical psychologists, and investigators. The purpose of the present study is to
highlight the psychological profile of the group of the cancer patients throughout certain
qualitative “filters”, that is to say applying a semi-structured clinical interview, designed
especially for the needs of the present study, as well as throughout the use of a theoretical
conceptual framework based on the axioms of analysis of the Grounded Theory. Semistructured
clinical interview aimed not only to describe phenomena, rather than report
statistics, but also to understand the views and feelings of patients in palliative care
settings (early palliative care) towards the “bad news” and explore their opinions
regarding the timing of its discussion as well, and, consequently, each analyzed item
provides a wealth of data, for example the emotional labor, the prolonged agony, the
desires of the patient, and, finally, the silent acting-out. Additionally, throughout the
subjects’ narrative interventions, for the first time in this research field (palliative care),
three (3) “cognitive entrapments”, linked to the onset of the disease, were found and
emerged, simultaneously. The final completion of the outline of the participants'
psychological profile it has been made possible by using the Thematic Apperception Test
(Τ.Α.Τ), as it was not only more appropriate than the first psychological tool so as to bring
out more internal, more insidious, more obscure and more entrenched emotional and
mental processes, but also more suitable for the assessment of the diversity of the defense
functions and their levels as well. The findings of both psychological tools were analyzed
on the basis of the methodological principles and axioms of the Grounded Theory and on
purely psychodynamic terminology. Finally, a reference is made to the use of these
findings of the study, both on the clinical practice with oncological patients and on the
education of the health professionals. Last but not least, reference is made to the research
constraints that are fatally "accompanying" each study.
Keywords:
Clinical psychological profile, Cancer patients, Thematic Apperception Test, Psychodynamic approach, Qualitative research
