Establishing the Correlation between Well-Being and Presenting Symptomatology in Persons Who Are Seriously Ill
Frances R. Anderson, Nursing, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton, NY, USA
This research project examines the correlation between scores on the Well-Being Picture Scale and measures of presenting symptomatology in persons who are seriously ill. Two hundred participants will be recruited from individuals who receive health care services from Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital, Inc. (Lourdes) and its community services, including hospice home care, inpatient oncology, outpatient radiation oncology, cardiac rehabilitation, and Lourdes at Home Long-term. Lourdes personnel approach potential participants when they come to the facility for care, and invite them to participate in the study. Potential participants are told that their choice regarding participation will not affect their present or future care in any way; that they do not have to participate; and that they may discontinue their participation at any time. Those who agree to be in the study are asked to complete a 1-page participant profile and the ten-item Well-Being Picture Scale, along with an 18-item symptom inventory routinely administered by Lourdes. The questionnaires will be administered by hospital personnel. The questionnaire routinely given by the hospital staff will be scored and recorded as usual, and then the scores will be transferred to the Data Collection Sheet at regular intervals by a Lourdes member of the research team, eliminating the need for non-Lourdes members of the research team to have access to patients’ medical records. Patients whose scores on the routine Hospital questionnaire indicate the need for follow-up will be referred to appropriate resources by Lourdes personnel. Responses on the Well-Being Picture Scale will be scored using the scoring key provided, and then entered onto the Data Collection Sheet by a member of the research team. Data will be entered into the computer at regular intervals by student RAs on the team, and will be analyzed by the investigators using appropriate computer software.