Informing cancer patient based on his type of personality: the suspicious (paranoid) patient
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1Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Health, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Abstract:
Imparting bad news had always been an unpleasant task for the physician, as shown from ancient years to our days. In the healthcare sector and as far as the cancer patient is concerned, the imparting of bad news is performed by the patient's doctor within a therapeutic relationship of course. The fundamental question is how a therapist could tailor the information to any patient and if "Is it possible to determine who should be told what, when and how ?". The aim of this paper was to describe the suspicious character or type of personality thoroughly so that any physician can make a diagnosis and tailor the information strategy to the patient's needs. As method of research was used the qualitative method through groups with doctors and nurses, while research within groups lasted for 5 years. The degree of informing of the suspicious personality in the range "minimal - small - medium - large - very large" is : the degree of denial varies between large and very large. The degree of informing varies between medium and small and sometimes minimal. Informing the Family: The hardest family to deal with. Pay attention to litigious mania. Avoid confrontation or be drawn into agreeing with the family views.
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