Dataset Information

Partners' experiences of their loved ones' trauma and PTSD: An ongoing journey of loss and gain.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Traumatic life events can have a profound impact on the physical and psychological wellbeing of not only those who directly experience them, but others who are indirectly affected, such as victims' partners.

Aims

This study aimed to explore the experiences and views of partners of individuals who have a history of trauma and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods

In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six partners of people who had experienced trauma and were diagnosed with PTSD and awaiting or receiving treatment at a specialist Trauma Service. The data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results

One overarching theme resulted from the data: partners experienced trauma and PTSD as an ongoing journey of loss and gain. This was supported by three superordinate themes: making sense of the trauma and ensuing consequences, shifting identities, and accessing and experiencing outside resources. Partners' journeys were characterised by striving and struggling to make sense of the trauma and its ensuing consequences, whilst grappling with the identities of themselves, their partners and relationships shifting over time. Participants navigated their journeys in the context of external resources and support from friends, family, colleagues and professionals.

Conclusions

The results of this study highlight the need for greater information and support for partners of people with PTSD.

SUBMITTER: Powling R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10866491 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Partners' experiences of their loved ones' trauma and PTSD: An ongoing journey of loss and gain.

Powling Rosie R Brown Dora D Tekin Sahra S Billings Jo J

PloS one 20240214 2

<h4>Background</h4>Traumatic life events can have a profound impact on the physical and psychological wellbeing of not only those who directly experience them, but others who are indirectly affected, such as victims' partners.<h4>Aims</h4>This study aimed to explore the experiences and views of partners of individuals who have a history of trauma and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<h4>Methods</h4>In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with six partners of people wh ...[more]

PMID: 38354114

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Project description:BackgroundHospitals are institutions whose primary task is to treat patients. Family-centered care, which considers loved ones as equal partners in patient care, has been gaining recognition in the adult care setting. Our aim was to record experiences of and opinions on communication between hospital-based healthcare providers and patients' loved ones, related but not limited to the rigorous mitigation measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThe Twitter profile @HospitalsTalkTo and hashtag #HospitalsTalkToLovedOnes were created to interact with the Twitter public between 7 June 2021 and 7 February 2022. Conversations surrounding #HospitalsTalkToLovedOnes were extracted and subjected to natural language processing analysis using term frequency and Markov chain analysis. Qualitative thematic analysis was performed on the 10% most interacted tweets and of tweets mentioning "COVID" from a personal experience-based subset.ResultsWe collected 4412 unique tweets made or interacted by 7040 Twitter users from 142 different countries. The most frequent words were patient, hospital, care, family, loved and communication. Thematic analysis revealed the importance of communication between patients, patients' loved ones and hospitals; showed that patients and their loved ones need support during a patient's hospital journey; and that pediatric care should be the gold standard for adult care. Visitation restrictions due to COVID-19 are just one barrier to communication, others are a lack of phone signal, no space or time for asking questions, and a complex medical system. We formulate 3 recommendations to improve the inclusion of loved ones into the patient's hospital stay.Conclusions"Loved ones are not 'visitors' in a patient's life". Irrespective of COVID-19, patient's loved ones need to be included during the patient's hospital journey. Transparent communication and patient empowerment increase patient safety and improve the hospital experience for both the patients and their loved ones. Our findings underline the need for the concept of family-centered care to finally be implemented in adult nursing clinical practice.

Dataset Information

Partners' experiences of their loved ones' trauma and PTSD: An ongoing journey of loss and gain.

Background

Aims

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Partners' experiences of their loved ones' trauma and PTSD: An ongoing journey of loss and gain.

Similar Datasets

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