re, findings regarding the effectiveness of this intervention strategy need to be restricted to this population.
Regarding the hospice strategy, Fieweger (1987) reports that the patient is assisted to cope with dying through a focus on interpersonal communication. This communication centers around facing the issue of death. In this regard, hospice workers are given intensive training in the areas of: (1) owning feelings; (2) accepting feelings; (3) sharing feelings; (4) actively listening to both content and relational messages; (5) responding to content and relational messages; and (6) conflict resolution. Using these communication skills, the hospice worker helps the dying patient toward more satisfying relational exchanges with family and friends, thereby, elevating the patient's ability to face death. Support has been found for the hospice intervention strategy. For example, Basile and Stone (1987) found a strong positive correlation between hospice worker effectiveness and workers' emotional and interpersonal skills.
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