OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1177/00302228241256270
Gülşah Çamcı, Hatice Karabuğa Yakar, Melike Çelik, Sıdıka Oğuz
{"title":"Death Anxiety and Religious Coping in Heart Failure Patients.","authors":"Gülşah Çamcı, Hatice Karabuğa Yakar, Melike Çelik, Sıdıka Oğuz","doi":"10.1177/00302228241256270","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228241256270","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study was conducted to determine death anxiety and religious coping in heart failure patients. It was determined that 64% of the patients were male, the mean death anxiety score was 7.78 ± 3.91, 38% had ≤6 points and 62% had ≥7 points. Positive religious coping score was 20.54 ± 6.58 and negative religious coping score was 6.86 ± 3.18. Patients with a diagnosis of heart failure ≥3 years had higher death anxiety levels. There was a weak positive correlation between death anxiety and positive and negative religious coping scores. Death anxiety and the number of days hospitalized were determined to predict positive religious coping in regression analysis. The model explained 7.6% of the total variance in positive religious coping. Heart failure patients were detected to have high death anxiety. Patients were observed to have high positive religious coping scores. As death anxiety increases, patients exhibit positive religious coping behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1669-1685"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141071104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2022-12-25DOI: 10.1177/00302228221148526
Zainab Suntai, Edson Chipalo
{"title":"Racial/Ethnic Differences in Provider-Engaged Religious Belief Discussions with Older Adults at the End of Life.","authors":"Zainab Suntai, Edson Chipalo","doi":"10.1177/00302228221148526","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228221148526","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The purpose of this study was to determine racial/ethnic differences in provider-engaged religious belief discussion with older adults in the final month of life. Data were derived from the combined 2012 to 2020 National Health and Aging Trends Study. Chi-square tests were used for bivariate analysis, and a binary logistic regression model was used to test the association between race/ethnicity and provider-engaged religious belief discussions at the end of life. After controlling for other explanatory factors during the analysis, results showed that providers were less likely to have religious belief discussions with Black and Hispanic older adults compared to Whites. The results of this study point to a significant gap in knowledge among healthcare providers whose diversity training may not be inclusive of religious/spiritual cultural humility. Implications for research, policy, and practice are provided.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1098-1110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10780048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Relationship Between Physician's and Nurses' Attitudes Towards Futile Treatment and Their Approach to Death and Terminally Ill Patients.","authors":"Gulay Yildirim, Meryem Türkan Işık, Sibel Oner Yalcin","doi":"10.1177/00302228231153712","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231153712","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We aimed to determine the relationship between the attitudes of healthcare professionals towards futile treatment and their approach to death and terminally ill patients. We collected the data from nurses-physicians working in the intensive care unit, using the Nurses' Attitudes towards Futile Treatment Scale (NAFTS) and Approach to Death and Dying Patients Attitude Scale (ADDPAS). Avoidant attitudes displayed towards death and terminally ill patients increase as futile treatment is administered more. Health workers who work in the intensive care unit and witness futile treatment more frequently in the clinic are of the opinion that futile treatment should not be performed.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1348-1367"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9113021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-03-06DOI: 10.1177/00302228231161815
Stephen Claxton-Oldfield, Hyeseong Yoon
{"title":"Deathbed Visions: Hospice Palliative Care Volunteers' Experiences, Perspectives, and Responses.","authors":"Stephen Claxton-Oldfield, Hyeseong Yoon","doi":"10.1177/00302228231161815","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231161815","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>11 female hospice palliative care volunteers who had either witnessed and/or had patients or patients' family members tell them about deathbed visions (DBVs) were interviewed about their experiences, perspectives, and responses. The volunteers responded to a series of guiding questions and shared stories about their patients' DBVs. During the interviews, the volunteers talked about, among other things, the impact of DBVs on their patients and themselves, how they responded to their patients' DBVs, and their explanations for them. The most common visitors appearing in the deathbed vision stories shared by the volunteers were their patients' deceased family members (parents, siblings). The volunteers described their patients' visions as having largely positive (e.g., comforting) effects on the patients as well as having a positive impact on themselves (e.g., lessening their own fear of death). The volunteers did not initiate conversations about DBVs with their patients, but responded appropriately by listening, asking questions, and not being dismissive if the patient brought it up first. All volunteers provided spiritual as opposed to medical or scientific explanations for DBVs. The implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1642-1657"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10846510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-01-09DOI: 10.1177/00302228231151744
Cristina Maria Bostan, Aurora Hriţuleac, Liviu-Adrian Măgurianu
{"title":"Death Anxiety and COVID-19 Anxiety. The Mediating Role of Religious Relational Identification and the Impact of Emotional Regulation Strategies.","authors":"Cristina Maria Bostan, Aurora Hriţuleac, Liviu-Adrian Măgurianu","doi":"10.1177/00302228231151744","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231151744","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Management theory of terror (TMT) explains the way disease and death anxiety (DA) are managed through religion during crisis (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic). 344 women students completed self-reported questionnaires regarding death and COVID-19 anxiety, religious relational identification, and emotional regulation. Results show positive relation between religious relational identification and death anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety. The interaction between death anxiety and emotional regulation shows that both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression are dysfunctional for COVID-19 anxiety. A moderated mediation effect is significant, showing that COVID-19 anxiety is not decreasing due to usual and natural ways of coping (i.e., religious relational identification and cognitive reappraisal).</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1268-1285"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9834625/pdf/10.1177_00302228231151744.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10527847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-02-12DOI: 10.1177/00302228231157133
Meryem Berrin Bulut
{"title":"Relationship Between Attachment and Fear of Death: The Mediating Role of Religious Coping.","authors":"Meryem Berrin Bulut","doi":"10.1177/00302228231157133","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231157133","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this research, the link between attachment, religious coping, and fear of death were examined in a sample of 224 Turkish Muslim adults. Data were gathered by Experiences in Close Relationship Scale, Religious Coping Scale, and Multidimensional Mortality Awareness Measure. Positive religious coping was adversely related to avoidant and anxious attachments. When compared to anxious attachment, which was positively related to both negative religious coping and fear of death, avoidant attachment was not correlated with any of these variables. Fear of death correlated positively with negative religious coping. Furthermore, the link between anxious attachment and fear of death was partially mediated by negative religious coping. Findings imply that negative religious coping is important in the relationship between fear of death and anxious attachment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1437-1457"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9247602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-03-03DOI: 10.1177/00302228231159450
Deborah A Levesque, Melissa M Lunardini, Emma L Payne, Vanessa Callison-Burch
{"title":"<i>Grief Coach</i>, a Text-Based Grief Support Intervention: Acceptability Among Hospice Family Members.","authors":"Deborah A Levesque, Melissa M Lunardini, Emma L Payne, Vanessa Callison-Burch","doi":"10.1177/00302228231159450","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231159450","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>U.S. Medicare-certified hospices must provide bereavement care to family members for 13 months following a patient's death. This manuscript describes <i>Grief Coach</i>, a text message program that delivers expert grief support and can assist hospices in meeting the bereavement care mandate. It also describes the first 350 <i>Grief Coach</i> subscribers from hospice and the results of a survey of active subscribers (<i>n</i> = 154) to learn whether and how they found the program helpful. The 13-month program retention rate was 86%. Among survey respondents (<i>n</i> = 100, response rate = 65%), 73% rated the program as very helpful, and 74% rated it as contributing to their sense of being supported in their grief. Grievers aged 65+ and males gave the highest ratings. Respondents' comments identify key intervention content that they found helpful. These findings suggest that <i>Grief Coach</i> may be a promising component of hospice grief support programming to meet the needs of grieving family members.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1561-1589"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9369497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-03-06DOI: 10.1177/00302228231160900
Sarah Hahn, Emily A Butler, Kimberly Ogle
{"title":"\"We are Human too.\": The Challenges of Being an End-of-Life Doula.","authors":"Sarah Hahn, Emily A Butler, Kimberly Ogle","doi":"10.1177/00302228231160900","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228231160900","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>End-of-life (EOL) doulas are emerging professionals who provide an intimate approach to the death process by focusing on the psychological, social, spiritual, and emotional needs of dying individuals. EOL doula work is stressful; it exposes individuals to recurring stressors such as suffering and grief. Trained professionals are needed to help advocate for the dying individual and their families. Despite the growing literature on EOL doulas, information regarding the challenges of being an EOL doula is underrepresented in the literature. This paper is one of the first to address this concept. Twelve in-depth, semi-structured interviews regarding the EOL doula experience were conducted as a part of a larger exploratory study. Three overarching themes emerged from the larger project: motivations to become an EOL doula, roles of an EOL doula, and challenges of an EOL doula. In this article, only challenges of EOL are discussed, along with subsequent subordinate themes.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1611-1627"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9377488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-01-13DOI: 10.1177/00302228221150870
Kaina Marie Clare Sera Jose, Agham Josiah Navarro, Angelo Nico Pomida, Maria Regina Hechanova-Alampay
{"title":"Bereaved in Me: Understanding the Vicarious Grief Experiences Among Helping Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Kaina Marie Clare Sera Jose, Agham Josiah Navarro, Angelo Nico Pomida, Maria Regina Hechanova-Alampay","doi":"10.1177/00302228221150870","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228221150870","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Literature on the experience of the bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests how complicated it has been for those who lost loved ones. However, the sense of grief experienced by those who journey with them is relatively unexplored. The present study examines vicarious experiences of grief of healthcare workers, faith-based workers and mental health workers who worked with the bereaved due to COVID-19 deaths. The study was done in two phases. In the first phase, a survey showed that compared to other helping professionals, healthcare workers reported the highest levels of vicarious grief. In the second phase, in-depth interviews revealed five themes: acknowledging contexts of grief, navigating relations with the bereaved, sharing others' grief, internalizing encounters, and negotiating challenges. Findings highlight the need for supportive interventions at the organizational level.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1236-1256"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9841206/pdf/10.1177_00302228221150870.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10541320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
OmegaPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2023-02-24DOI: 10.1177/00302228221149453
Morgana Lizzio-Wilson, Emma F Thomas, Winnifred R Louis, Monique F Crane, Madison Kho, Pascal Molenberghs, Susilo Wibisono, Kiara Minto, Catherine E Amiot, Jean Decety, Lauren J Breen, Kerrie Noonan, Liz Forbat, Felicity Allen
{"title":"Using Latent Profile Analysis to Understand Health Practitioners' Attitudes Toward Voluntary Assisted Dying.","authors":"Morgana Lizzio-Wilson, Emma F Thomas, Winnifred R Louis, Monique F Crane, Madison Kho, Pascal Molenberghs, Susilo Wibisono, Kiara Minto, Catherine E Amiot, Jean Decety, Lauren J Breen, Kerrie Noonan, Liz Forbat, Felicity Allen","doi":"10.1177/00302228221149453","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00302228221149453","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prior work has documented considerable diversity among health practitioners regarding their support for voluntary assisted dying (VAD). We examined whether their attitudes are characterised by different combinations of personal support, normative support by other health practitioners, and whether they are predisposed to vicariously experience others' emotions (i.e., empathy). We also examined whether these profiles experienced different mental health outcomes (i.e., burnout and posttraumatic stress) in relation to VAD. To test this, 104 Australian health practitioners were surveyed after VAD was legalised in Victoria, Australia in 2019. Results indicated that practitioners' attitudes were characterised by three profiles: 1) strong personal and normative support (strong VAD supporters), 2) moderate personal and normative support (moderate VAD supporters), and 3) lower personal and normative support (apprehensive practitioners). However, each profile reported similar mental health outcomes. Findings suggest that the normative environments in which health practitioners operate may explain their diverse attitudes on VAD.</p>","PeriodicalId":74338,"journal":{"name":"Omega","volume":" ","pages":"1111-1139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10758742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}