Terminally Ill Patients and Social Work Interventions

Abstract

Human emotions have different meanings and impact on different people.The most commonemotion presented by human beings on the loss of a loved one is called grief. The process ofgrieving creates many chemical and emotional changes or physicaland psychological changes in thehuman body and mind. The various stages of grief´ are denial, anger,bargaining, depression, andacceptance, or DABDA (D-Denial, A-anger,B-bargaining, D-depression and A- acceptance).Themental health professionals working with such victims mainly focuses on helping or enabling theclients to get out of that negative emotion in a non-destructive way. Though grieving is painful it isimportant that those who have suffered a loss be allowed to express their grief. It is also important
that they be supported throughout the process. The bereavement support for the family who isexperiencing the loss of a family member or close loved ones needs to be initiated much before thatperson succumbs to inevitable death. The professionals dealing with such individuals are usuallyqualified and trained to lessen the severity of possible emotional setbacks and other related issuesprevailing in the lives of those who are more vulnerable to feel alienated owing to the absence ofthe loved one whose life was endangered.