The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients
Objectives: In Chochinov's dignity model, living in the here and now (mindful living) is explicitly stated as a dignity-conserving practice. However, what facilitates mindful living remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms of mindful living among Asian terminally ill patien...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178297 |
| _version_ | 1811679421461954560 |
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| author | Choo, Ping Ying Tan-Ho, Geraldine Low, Casuarine Xinyi Patinadan, Paul Victor Ho, Andy Hau Yan |
| author2 | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) |
| author_facet | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Choo, Ping Ying Tan-Ho, Geraldine Low, Casuarine Xinyi Patinadan, Paul Victor Ho, Andy Hau Yan |
| author_sort | Choo, Ping Ying |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Objectives: In Chochinov's dignity model, living in the here and now (mindful living) is explicitly stated as a dignity-conserving practice. However, what facilitates mindful living remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms of mindful living among Asian terminally ill patients. Methods: This interpretative phenomenological analysis comprised patients aged 50 and above with a prognosis of less than 12 months. Fifty interview transcripts from a larger Family Dignity Intervention study conducted in Singapore were used for the analysis. Results: Findings revealed 12 themes that were organized into 3 axioms of mindful living for dignified dying: (a) purposive self-awareness, (b) family-centered attention, and (c) attitudes of mortality acceptance. Through purposive self-awareness, patients introspected their lived experience with illness and anticipated death to find resilience and contentment. Patients' conscious family-centered attention revolved around their relationships, achievements, and legacy within the family, leading to a deepened sense of interconnectedness with self and beloved others at life's end. Lastly, patients adopted nonjudgmental attitudes of mortality acceptance as they made necessary arrangements in preparation for their death, allowing them to treasure every living moment and obtain a closure in life. An empirical model of mindful living for dignified dying was developed based on these emerging themes, illustrating the interweaving of intention, attention, and attitude for facilitating meaningful living in the face of mortality. Significance of results: Mindful living is a dignity-preserving practice, which helps terminally ill patients to find tranquility in each present moment despite their impending death. The identified mechanisms of mindful living lay important groundwork for a new understanding and possible directions for culture-specific, mindfulness-based, family-centered interventions suited to terminally ill patients in the Asian context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:08:53Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/178297 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T03:08:53Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1782972024-06-16T15:37:55Z The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients Choo, Ping Ying Tan-Ho, Geraldine Low, Casuarine Xinyi Patinadan, Paul Victor Ho, Andy Hau Yan Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) School of Social Sciences The Palliative Care Centre for Excellence in Education and Research (PalC), Singapore Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Mindful living Dignified dying Objectives: In Chochinov's dignity model, living in the here and now (mindful living) is explicitly stated as a dignity-conserving practice. However, what facilitates mindful living remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms of mindful living among Asian terminally ill patients. Methods: This interpretative phenomenological analysis comprised patients aged 50 and above with a prognosis of less than 12 months. Fifty interview transcripts from a larger Family Dignity Intervention study conducted in Singapore were used for the analysis. Results: Findings revealed 12 themes that were organized into 3 axioms of mindful living for dignified dying: (a) purposive self-awareness, (b) family-centered attention, and (c) attitudes of mortality acceptance. Through purposive self-awareness, patients introspected their lived experience with illness and anticipated death to find resilience and contentment. Patients' conscious family-centered attention revolved around their relationships, achievements, and legacy within the family, leading to a deepened sense of interconnectedness with self and beloved others at life's end. Lastly, patients adopted nonjudgmental attitudes of mortality acceptance as they made necessary arrangements in preparation for their death, allowing them to treasure every living moment and obtain a closure in life. An empirical model of mindful living for dignified dying was developed based on these emerging themes, illustrating the interweaving of intention, attention, and attitude for facilitating meaningful living in the face of mortality. Significance of results: Mindful living is a dignity-preserving practice, which helps terminally ill patients to find tranquility in each present moment despite their impending death. The identified mechanisms of mindful living lay important groundwork for a new understanding and possible directions for culture-specific, mindfulness-based, family-centered interventions suited to terminally ill patients in the Asian context. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This work was part of a larger project supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 2 Fund [Ref no. MOE2016-T2-1-016]. 2024-06-11T02:13:29Z 2024-06-11T02:13:29Z 2024 Journal Article Choo, P. Y., Tan-Ho, G., Low, C. X., Patinadan, P. V. & Ho, A. H. Y. (2024). The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients. Palliative and Supportive Care, 1-7. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S147895152300202X 1478-9515 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178297 10.1017/S147895152300202X 38269445 2-s2.0-85183489063 1 7 en MOE2016-T2-1-016 Palliative and Supportive Care © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is used to distribute the re-used or adapted article and the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained prior to any commercial use. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Mindful living Dignified dying Choo, Ping Ying Tan-Ho, Geraldine Low, Casuarine Xinyi Patinadan, Paul Victor Ho, Andy Hau Yan The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title | The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title_full | The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title_fullStr | The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title_short | The gift of here and now at the end of life: mindful living and dignified dying among Asian terminally ill patients |
| title_sort | gift of here and now at the end of life mindful living and dignified dying among asian terminally ill patients |
| topic | Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Mindful living Dignified dying |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/178297 |
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