Positive shifts in the perceived meaning of cardiac pain following a psychoeducation program for chronic stable angina.
This study examined the meaning of cardiac pain for chronic stable angina (CSA) patients who participated in a standardized angina psychoeducation program. The patients documented what angina meant to them at sessions 1 and 6 of a 6-week standardized psychoeducation program aimed at enhancing CSA self-management. At session 1, angina was described as a major negative life change characterized by fear, frustration, limitations, and anger. At session 6, angina signified a broad and ongoing pain problem requiring continual self-management in order to maximize quality of life. The findings suggest that the perceived meaning of angina as a burdensome and debilitating life change shifts, during psychoeducation, to one of angina as a broad pain problem requiring ongoing self-management in order to preserve life goals and functioning. How such perceptual shifts in the meaning of cardiac pain might contribute to the overall effectiveness of psychoedcuation warrants further investigation.
Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. michael.mcgillion@utoronto.ca
Michael
M
McGillion
Judy
J
Watt-Watson
Sandra
S
LeFort
Bonnie
B
Stevens
D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000150:complications*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002170:Canada; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005639:Frustration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009341:Negativism; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires