3B. Coping with illness and disability

Question 1

Define transactional stress

Answer 1

Condition… person/ environment TRANSACTIONS… perceive DISCREPANCY between DEMANDS and COPING RESOURCES

Question 2

Recall an application of transactional stress

Answer 2

Hospitalisation:
patients have Mental stress about threat to wellbeing, but they have insufficient coping resource as they can’t really do anything about it

Question 3

What sorts of information can be given to a patient to help them deal with the transactional stress of a procedure? Define these.

Answer 3

Procedural information (info reprocedures)
Sensory information (info re sensations to be experienced)

Question 4

What is the Dual Process Hypothesis?

Answer 4

Proposition that procedural and sensory information are both helpful to reduce stress in patients as they work in different ways - procedural info allows patients to deal with situation non-emotionally, whereas sensory info MAPS A NON-THREATENING INTERPRETATION onto expectations

Question 5

How does perception of control affect stress?

Answer 5

Decreases it

Question 6

Define and give an example of problem-focused coping

Answer 6

= efforts at changing environment/ actions/ attitudes: eg. patients may learn specific procedures to help them cope with the symptoms and may also change their lifestyles to cope with the condition eg change diet

Question 7

Define and give an example of emotion-focused coping

Answer 7

= efforts designed to manage emotional stress to maintain one’s own morale: eg. meditation/ praying/ seeking emotional reassurance from family

Question 8

Recall the general principles/strategy for helping YOUNG children cope with treatment

Answer 8

-Tell show do:
1. Tell - with simple language
2. Show - demonstrate on an inanimate object
3. Do - begin only when the child understands - use prompt distrations
- coping skills training: distractions or matching children’s preferring coping style
with a specific coping strategy

Question 9

Name a study you have to recall for “coping with treatment”

Answer 9

Auerbach - Amount of Information and Distress

Question 10

Describe the Auerbach study

Answer 10

Dental extraction
General vs specific info re procedure
Distress correlated to how much patients desired information and how much they were given

Question 11

Describe the Langer and Rodin study

Answer 11

Study on perceived control of health
2 floors in home
1 floor given more choice than other - engaged more in activities, and had better well-being and 18mo mortality rate

Question 12

Define illness representations and outline the 5

Answer 12

Definition: “A patients own implicit, common sense beliefs about their illness”
Identity
Cause
Consequences
Time line
Curability/controllability
I C Triple C