Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34577847›Full record

ReviewMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)2021

Existential Suffering in Palliative Care: An Existential Positive Psychology Perspective.

Paul T P Wong, Timothy T F Yu

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A systematic review on the effects of logotherapy and meaning-centered therapy on psychological and existential symptoms in women with breast and gynecological cancer.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Paul T P WongDepartment of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4982-8127
Timothy T F YuDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M1C 1A4, Canada.
Trent University · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacies of the current healthcare system and needs a paradigm change to one that is holistic and community based, illustrated by the healing wheel. The present paper proposes that existential positive psychology (PP 2.0) represents a promising approach to meet the rising needs in palliative care. This framework has a twofold emphasis on (a) how to transcend and transform suffering as the foundation for wellbeing and (b) how to cultivate our spiritual and existential capabilities to achieve personal growth and flourishing. We propose that these objectives can be achieved simultaneously through dialectical palliative counselling, as illustrated by Wong's integrative meaning therapy and the Conceptual Model of CALM Therapy in palliative care. We then outline the treatment objectives and the intervention strategies of IMT in providing palliative counselling for palliative care and hospice patients. Based on our review of recent literature, as well as our own research and practice, we discover that existential suffering in general and at the last stage of life in particular is indeed the foundation for healing and wellbeing as hypothesized by PP 2.0. We can also conclude that best palliative care is holistic-in addition to cultivating the inner spiritual resources of patients, it needs to be supported by the family, staff, and community, as symbolized by the healing wheel.

Indexed as

COVID-19Palliative CareHumansPandemicsPsychology, PositiveSARS-CoV-2CALM therapyCOVID-19existential positive psychologyflourishinggood deathmature happinessmeaning therapypalliative carewellbeing

Identifiers

PMID34577847
PMCPMC8471755
OpenAlexW3196853325

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.