Barocas, Reichman and Schwebel (1983) have reported that:
Today there is a new openness about death--and indeed a new interest. . .books appear with titles such as. . . Your Dying. . .Terminal patients and their families are interviewed on television. Celebrities give candid details about how their malignancies affect their lives. (p.436)
This new openness to death and dying has served as foundation to both increased research in the area as well as to the development of a number of treatment strategies for dealing with death and dying in terminally ill populations. This paper examines a sampling of the over 350 publications that comprise the current literature on therapeutic intervention for the terminally ill. The emphasis in the reviewed material is upon how these various theories and strategies assist patient coping.
Death and Dying in Terminally Ill Populations: Treatment
Before examining specific treatment strategies, it is helpful to provide a general description of the death and dying issues faced by terminally ill patients. Most researchers and theorists believe that the most accurate description of the psychological reaction to a terminal prognosis has been provided in the work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1969). Specifically, she states that the patient with a terminal prognosis passes through five stages. These stages are:
(1) Denial - At this initial stage, the terminally ill patient will not (or cannot) acknowledge the reality of his or her death. There is a tendency to believe that the diagnosis is incorrect and to ignore its implications. There can be refusal to talk about the illness and its prognosis.
(2) Anger - In the second stage, the individual grows angry. Often he/she will blame others, God, anyone and everyone for the illness. It is one of the most difficult stages for people surrounding the individual because of the ferocity of the venting.
(3) Bargaining - In the third stage, the in...