Understanding Hospice and palliative care psychology using a grounded theory approach

ABSTRACT

Palliative care comprises a holistic, interprofessional approach to caring for individuals with advanced serious illness (National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2018;Institute of Medicine, 2014). Although psychological treatment targets fall within the scope of hospice and palliative care (National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2018), psychologists are rarely included in the specialty. In fact, little formal guidance exists to guide the incorporation of psychology into hospice and palliative care (American Psychological Association, 2017;Carpenter, 2015;Kasl-Godley, King, & Quill, 2014). A constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2008) was used to investigate their scope, role, clinical practice, and interprofessional collaboration of hospice and palliative care psychologists (n = 8) practicing across the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and constant comparative methods (Charmaz, 2008) revealed an emerging substantive theory of hospice and palliative care psychology. Hospice and palliative care psychologists contextualize conceptual (Psychological Scope of Practice, Interprofessional Collaboration, and Hospice and Palliative Care Context) and experiential aspects (Client-Facing, Team-Facing, and Psychologist-Facing Services) of practice through an integrative process (Cultivating an Adaptive Stance). The substantive theory of hospice and palliative care psychology informs future research, training, and policy in favor of integrating psychology into hospice and palliative care. An additional exploratory investigation found the COVID-19 pandemic to have widespread impact across hospice and palliative care psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)