McInnerney, Daisy Elizabeth;
(2022)
Emotional disclosure to enhance wellbeing: Developing an intervention for people with terminal illness receiving hospice care at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Background: People living with terminal illness experience emotional distress. Hospice care aims to alleviate that distress, but provision of psychological support is limited by staff capacity. Psychological interventions with minimal need for input from specialist staff could be a valuable resource for hospices. Emotional disclosure (ED)-based interventions hold potential to meet this need. However, evidence to support their use in hospices is limited, due in part to lack of intervention tailoring. Aim: The primary aim was to develop and evaluate (for feasibility and acceptability) an ED-based intervention tailored for adults with terminal illness receiving hospice care. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic midway through this PhD highlighted the potential for an adapted version of the intervention to reduce distress for the general population. This thesis therefore also addresses the secondary aim of developing and evaluating an ED-based intervention for the general population during the pandemic. Methods: Findings from a scoping review of ED-based interventions for people with terminal illness and a survey of psychological services in UK hospices were used to inform development of a prototype of both interventions. A pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated the intervention for the general population during the pandemic. Findings from this influenced adaptation of the intervention tailored for adults with terminal illness, which was then evaluated by conducting a feasibility study and process evaluation in six hospices. Each intervention development phase was supported by stakeholder consultation. Results: Two ED-based interventions were developed: Let It Out for people living with terminal illness; and Let It Out – COVID 19 for the general population during the pandemic. Both were feasible and acceptable, but required adaptations to minimise risk of recipients experiencing excessive, unsupported distress. Conclusions: Future research should evaluate the safety and efficacy of Let It Out for people with terminal illness receiving hospice care.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Emotional disclosure to enhance wellbeing: Developing an intervention for people with terminal illness receiving hospice care at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2022. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10151306 |
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