The Effectiveness of dignity therapy on Cancer Patients` family Caregivers

Background: Dignity therapy is a unique, individualized, short-term psychotherapy that was developed for patients and their families living with life-threatening or life-limiting illnesses. It was developed to reduce psychosocial and existential distress at the end of life and has been shown to benefit people dying of cancer. The available evidence shows that cancer patients` family caregivers often experience a complex array of challenges and difficulties that threaten their physical, psychological and spiritual well-being which has a negative effect on their patient care. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of dignity therapy on cancer patients` family Caregivers.Method: A literature search from 2000 to 2020 was conducted using multiple databases (PubMed, Embase and web of science) and using keywords of dignity therapy; family caregivers; and cancer to identify related studies regarding the research question.Findings: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria in this study. According to the results of the reviewed articles, dignity therapy might, therefore, be of significant value for promoting family care of their patients, enhancing family connections and relationships and raising the level of hope and spiritual well-being of patients. Furthermore, dignity therapy that targets both physical and psychological symptom reduction should be combined with medical management in a multidisciplinary approach. Also, the role of cultural backgrounds for using dignity therapy was highlighted in several studies.Conclusion: The results indicate that dignity therapy can have a positive effect on improving family care of their patients and is associated with the improvement of psychosocial status in this population.

Keywords:

dignity therapy , family caregivers , cancer