PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K Herth

Publications and source records attributed to K Herth.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Enhancing hope in people with a first recurrence of cancer.

Enhancing hope in people with a first recurrence of cancer Researchers and clinicians have identified the need for well-defined intervention studies to test the efficacy of interventions designed to strengthen hope. This quasi-experimental study sought to determine if a specific nursing intervention program designed to enhance hope would positively influence levels of hope and quality-of-life (QOL) in a convenience sample of 115 people with a first recurrence of cancer who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: treatment group (hope), attention control group (informational), or control group (usual treatment). The Herth Hope Index (HHI) and the Cancer Rehabilitation and Evaluation Systems, Short Form (CARES-SF) were administered prior to intervention, immediately after intervention and at 3, 6, and 9-month intervals. Treatment and control groups differed significantly with regard to level of hope (P=0.02) and QOL (P=0.03). Both the level of hope and QOL were significantly increased (P=0.03) immediately after intervention and across time (3, 6 and 9 months). This study was a preliminary attempt to design, implement, and evaluate a theory-driven hope intervention program. Knowledge about the effectiveness of specific interventions designed to enhance hope is vital if nurses are to significantly influence hope in those whom are in their care.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Hope as seen through the eyes of homeless children.

Children now constitute the largest segment of the homeless population. Multiple studies have identified the adverse effects of homelessness on children's health, development, academic success, and behaviour. Minimal literature exists that describes homeless children from the perspective of their strengths. The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of hope in homeless children and to identify strategies that children use in fostering and maintaining their hope. Using the technique of methodological triangulation (semi-structured interviews and drawings) the investigator collected data on a convenience sample of 60 homeless children (6 to 16 years old) currently residing in homeless shelters. Transcriptions of the audio-taped interviews were analysed following Colaizzi's method of analysis. Transcript statements were compared with the drawings. Five themes representing hope emerged from the data: connectedness, internal resources, cognitive strategies, energy, and hope objects. School age children drew story book tale characters, pre-adolescents drew real life situations, and adolescents drew future plans to represent their hopes. An understanding of hope from the perspective of homeless children could provide a basis upon which to develop interventions that engender hope and to develop programmes that build on the hopes that children had already developed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Integrating hearing loss into one's life.

Hearing loss is the single most prevalent chronic physical disability in the United States. Little is known about the experience of integrating hearing loss as a part of one's life, particularly from the perspective of the hearing-impaired person. This phenomenological inquiry explored how adults with onset of hearing loss after acquisition of language integrate the hearing loss into their lives. The author interviewed 32 deafened adults. Using a modification of P. F. Colaizzi's method of data analysis, four distinct themes, each with subthemes, emerged around a core variable labeled as dancing with. These themes were dancing with loss and fear, dancing with fluctuating feelings, dancing with courage amidst change, and dancing with an altered life perspective. This study provides a beginning understanding of how people integrate a hearing loss into their lives and is the first step in developing and implementing appropriate strategies to provide assistance to others experiencing hearing loss.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

Hope from the perspective of homeless families.

Homeless families represent one-third of the homeless population. These families have few resources and experience multiple stressors. This study explored the meaning of hope and the influence of specific characteristics on hope, and identified strategies that are used to foster hope in homeless families living in four homeless shelters. Using the technique of methodological triangulation (interview, Herth Hope Index, and Background Data Form), the author collected cross-sectional data on 52 homeless families and longitudinal data on 10 families over a 9-month period of time in order to provide a clearer understanding of the hope process. Hope was described as a power within the self that mobilizes one to move beyond the present situation and to envision a better tomorrow for one's self and others. Six hope-engendering strategies and four hope-hindering factors were identified based on the interview responses of adult family members. Overall hope levels in those residing in the homeless shelter were low and remained stable across the background variables with the exception of those receiving nurse-provided health care on the premises. Across time, hope levels were found to be low at interview time one, to rise significantly at time two, and to level off at time three. An understanding of hope from the perspective of the homeless family could provide a basis upon which to develop interventions that engender hope.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Genograms: application in hospice care.

Genograms are a comprehensive, systematic assessment tool that have valuable application within the hospice home care setting. They also can be used to assist the client and family in their journey through the dying process and the bereavement period.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Hope in the family caregiver of terminally ill people.

This longitudinal study explored the meaning of hope, the influence of specific background characteristics on hope, and identified strategies that are used to foster hope in a convenience sample of 25 family caregivers of terminally ill family members from two hospice programmes using the technique of methodological triangulation (interview, Herth Hope Index and Background Data Form). Hope was defined as a dynamic inner power that enables transcendence of the present situation and fosters a positive new awareness of being. Six hope-fostering categories and three hope-hindering categories were identified based on the interview responses. With the exception of those providing care to a family member diagnosed with AIDS and those caregivers experiencing poor personal health, a high fatigue level, severe sleep deprivation and more than two concurrent losses, overall hope levels among participants were found to remain stable across the background variables. Across time, hope levels were found to be low at interview time one, rise significantly by time two and then level off for the remainder of the time. An understanding of hope from the perspective of the family caregiver could provide a basis upon which to develop interventions that foster hope.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Abbreviated instrument to measure hope: development and psychometric evaluation.

The purpose of this research was to develop and evaluate psychometrically an abbreviated instrument to assess hope in adults in clinical settings. The Herth Hope Index (HHI), a 12-item adapted version of the Herth Hope Scale (HHS), was tested with a convenience sample of 172 ill adults. Alpha coefficient was 0.97 with a 2-week test-retest reliability of 0.91. Criterion-related validity was established by correlating the HHI with the parent HHS (r = 0.92), the Existential Well-Being Scale (r = 0.84) and the Nowotny Hope Scale (r = 0.81). Divergent validity with the Hopelessness Scale was established (r = -0.73). Construct validity was supported through the factorial isolation of three factors: (a) temporality and future; (b) positive readiness and expectancy; (c) interconnectedness. These three factors accounted for 41% of the total variance in the measure.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Development and refinement of an instrument to measure hope.

This article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a measure designed to evaluate hope in adults, the Herth Hope Scale, which was completed by 180 cancer patients, 185 well adults, 40 well elderly and 75 elderly widow(er)s. The alpha reliability coefficients for the total scale ranged from .75 to .94 with a three-week test-retest reliability of .89 to .91. A negative correlation (r = -.69) was found between the Herth Hope Scale and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. The multidimensionality of the construct was supported through the factorial isolation of three subscales: temporality and future, positive readiness and expectancy, and interconnectedness. These three factors accounted for 58% of the total variance in the measure. With refinement, this measure should enable exploration of the antecedents and correlates of hope in diverse adult populations. Further, hope enhancing strategies could be identified and examined for their ability to alter hope states.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Relationship of hope, coping styles, concurrent losses, and setting to grief resolution in the elderly widow(er).

This descriptive study was based on Dimond's Bereavement Adaptation Model; investigation was made of the relationship between hope, concurrent losses, coping style, setting (hospital, hospice, nursing home), and grief resolution. Seventy-five elderly persons who had been widowed 12-18 months completed the Herth Hope Scale, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, and the Grief Resolution Index by mail. A significant positive relationship was found between effective grief resolution and a high hope level; 0-1 concurrent losses; the use of confrontive, optimistic, palliative, supportant, and self-reliant coping styles; and the death of the spouse within a hospice setting. The importance of the type of setting, hope level, and specific coping styles on grief resolution in the elderly widow(er) is suggested by the findings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Fostering hope in terminally-ill people.

This study explored the meaning of hope and identified strategies that are used to foster hope in a convenience sample of 30 terminally-ill adults using the technique of methodological triangulation (interview, Herth Hope Index and Background Data Form). Cross-sectional data were collected on 20 of the subjects, and longitudinal data were collected on 10 of the subjects in order to provide a clearer understanding of the hoping process during the dying trajectory. Hope was defined as an inner power directed toward enrichment of 'being'. With the exception of those diagnosed with AIDS, overall hope levels among subjects were high and were found to remain stable over time and across the background variables. Seven hope-fostering categories and three hope-hindering categories were identified based on the interview responses. The findings could serve as a guide for the development of interventions to foster hope in terminally-ill people.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Engendering hope in the chronically and terminally ill: nursing interventions.

Nurses assume a primary role in the care of chronic and terminally ill individuals in their homes and are in a strategic position to foster or hinder hope. Using a descriptive survey design, home health care nurses and hospice nurses were asked to rate proposed hope interventions as to use and effectiveness in facilitating hope in their chronically ill and terminally ill clients. One hundred and fifty-eight registered nurses, representative of six hospice agencies and six home care agencies in a Midwestern state, completed the Hope Intervention Questionnaire. Provision of comfort and pain relief emerged as the most effective and most frequently used hope interventions by both the home health care nurses and the hospice nurses. The top 15 interventions, though ranked in slightly different order, were the same for hospice nurses and the home health care nurses and were reflective of the multi-dimensions of hope. The findings of this study have practical importance to nursing practice as they provide a framework for selecting strategies to foster hope in the chronically ill and terminally ill population.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hope in older adults in community and institutional settings.

This study explored the meaning of hope, the influence of specific background characteristics on hope, and identified strategies that are used to foster hope in a convenience sample of 60 older adults using the technique of methodological triangulation (interview, Hope Index, and Background Data Form). Hope was described as an expectation of a brighter tomorrow for self and/or others. Perceptions of hope were found to be influenced by place of residence, age, energy level, functional ability, and health status. With the exception of those participants experiencing severe fatigue and those residing in a long-term care facility, overall hope levels among subjects were high and were found to remain stable across the background variables. Eight hope-fostering categories and four hope-hindering categories were identified based on the interview responses. Implications for practice and research are presented.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Loneliness.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adolescent↗