Providing Emotional Support for People with Chronic Diseases
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 230
Special Issue Editors
Interests: adaptation; chronic disease; coping; emotional burden; emotional support; mental health; psychological distress; psychological intervention; psychological well-being; quality of life
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The management of life-long physical conditions can deeply affect mental health, psychological well-being, and quality of life and result in difficult adaptation. People suffering from a chronic disease could develop helplessness, discouragement, hopelessness, or mood disturbances, which, in turn, could worsen their medical prognosis. Moreover, since managing a chronic illness could impact the sense of self, especially when symptoms are painful or impair social and school/work functioning, difficulties in how these people cope with everyday life might arise. Finally, these medical conditions could also burden families or caregivers, with inevitable repercussions on the support received and the management of the chronic illness itself. Healthcare providers play an important role in supporting the mental and physical consequences of the chronic disease; however, their availability could be limited. Therefore, there is a need to implement effective interventions aimed at improving psychological distress deriving from a chronic medical condition, with a particular interest in those factors that might foster or hamper them, and the impact of those interventions on medium- and long-term prognosis.
This Special Issue aims to advance the understanding of how emotional support to people with chronic diseases might be provided. We are seeking articles enhancing knowledge on interventions addressing psychological distress, from the development, implementation, evaluation, and translation into practice, including factors that might underpin and affect long-term health conditions.
Dr. Sara Gostoli
Dr. Giulia Raimondi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- adaptation
- chronic disease
- coping
- emotional burden
- emotional support
- mental health
- psychological distress
- psychological intervention
- psychological well-being
- quality of life
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Optimizing Primary Care for Elderly Depression: Behavioral Activation and Activity Implementation in the GermanIMPACT Study
Authors: Dagmar Lühmann
Affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg
Department of General Practice and Primary Care
Martinistraße 52
40246 Hamburg
Germany
Abstract: The GermanIMPACT study was a cluster-randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of a multicomponent collaborative care intervention for treating depression in patients 60+ to usual care. Patients in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in PHQ-9 remission rates. Our secondary analysis investigates facilitators and barriers of behavioural activation within the intervention group. In total 2,188 activities were documented in 136 patients; a median 69% successfully implemented. Obstacles included time constraints, depressive symptoms, and health issues. Activities focusing "self-care and spirituality" improved PHQ-9 outcomes [p=0.048; OR 1.540], “total-planned-not-carried out” activities worsened [p=0.007; OR 1.160]. Emphasizing self-care and improving organizational support are recommended.
