Good death and bereavement in a lung cancer patient following meaning-centered couples psychotherapy by a cancer nursing specialist

Abstract

Objective There are many terminally ill cancer patients who are struggling with the meaning of life, but it cannot be said that their concerns are being adequately addressed. Method From a series of cancer patients undergoing end-of-life care, the case of a patient, who developed incurable lung cancer and, together with his wife, lost the meaning of life and underwent meaning-centered couples psychotherapy once every two weeks to have them consider the meaning of life together, is presented. Results The patient was a 70-year-old man who had been diagnosed with lung cancer and pleural dissemination 14 months earlier. The meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) sessions were conducted with the patient and his 70-year-old wife by a cancer nursing specialist who had received extensive training in MCP and had also received 7-year on-going supervision from a Japanese MCP-enlightened psychologist. At the same time, palliative treatment of physical distress was performed. The patient was able to discover the meaning of life as a result of MCP performed by a cancer nursing specialist for him and his spouse who had lost any notion of the meaning of life after being informed that he had terminal cancer at the time of the initial diagnosis. Significance of results Meaning-centered psychotherapy provided to terminal cancer patients by cancer nurses can help patients and their families express their gratitude, thereby achieving a good death for the bereaved family. Nurses are likely to increasingly perform MCP in the future.