Expressive Writing and Self-Care in Palliative Care Professionals: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Palliative Care
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• Palliative care professionals face emotionally intense situations, leading to stress, anxiety, and burnout.
• These psychological challenges can diminish motivation and impact the quality of care.
• Expressive writing is a known method for emotion regulation and meaning-making in the general population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of expressive writing on meaning change in palliative care professionals.
• To explore how expressive writing affects the perception of traumatic professional events.
• To assess the effectiveness of expressive writing in Italian multi-professional palliative care settings.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study utilizing a longitudinal qualitative methodology.
• An ad-hoc expressive writing protocol was followed.
• Involved 10 palliative care professionals from diverse settings (hospices, hospital units, community care).

Main Results:

• Identified six key themes reflecting meaning shifts across four writing sessions.
• Themes included: phenomenon description, intense emotions, worker elaborations, feeling processing, improvement strategies, and internal resources.
• Expressive writing facilitated processing of intense emotions and traumatic events.

Conclusions:

• Expressive writing is effective for palliative care professionals in processing difficult emotions and experiences.
• The method stimulates critical self-reflection and promotes self-care.
• Supports meaning-making in the context of challenging professional events.