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 My Current Research I am interested in social support as it may affect health and quality of life outcomes, especially for individuals whose death is thought to be relatively imminent. In a previous study ( Herbst-Damm & Kulik, 2005), Dr. Kulik and I found that Hospice patients who were visited by trained volunteers lived on average twice as long as those who did not receive these visits. I am currently exploring possible reasons for this trend. First, we will determine if volunteer support also benefits the mental health of patients. Standardized measures of depression, distress, and positive wellbeing will be used to determine if quality of life (and death) are likewise enhanced for the patient and caregiver. A second goal will be to document, through in-depth interviews, the elements that occur during the volunteer visits experienced by patients and their caregivers as helpful or unhelpful. A third, related goal will be to explore possible mediators of the support-survival relationship. We will see, for example, if patient or caregiver negative and/or positive affect mediates the support-survival relationship. Related, we will assess how patient or caregiver traits, such as optimism/pessimism or religiosity, may mediate the request for volunteers and the subsequent effect of such requests. Of particular interest will be the analysis of change (before vs after visit) for all mental health measures. It is also our goal to learn more about how to study this relatively untapped population in terms of recruiting and maintaining the involvement of patients and caregivers under difficult circumstances.
Links of Interest: San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Center for Palliative Studies at San Diego Hospice
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