ISBN:  Unavailable

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Page count: 118

The act of providing and sharing food or nourishment to families and friends has been regarded as a way to signifiy love and support. While receiving palliative care, individuals with terminal diseases might also benefit from continuing this act. The comfort feeding only strategy was developed as an alternative to tube feeding for terminally ill patients who want to continue to eat and drink while they undergo palliative care measures or the practice of providing comfort and support as patients near the end of their life. The literature has reported qualitative studies investigating the effect nutrition has on the quality of life and wellbeing of individuals with terminal diseases. However, research examining the effectiveness of the comfort feeding only strategy on the mood or emotions of individuals receiving palliative care is minimal. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of the comfort feeding only strategy on the immediate behavior and positive affect of individuals with terminal cancer and receiving palliative care. Due to ethical components related to withholding a potentially beneficial treatment from individuals receiving palliative care, a B-A-B design was used to conduct this study. While adhering to specific inclusion criteria, three individuals with terminal cancer and admitted to an acute palliative care unit were enrolled in this study. Each subject participated in the comfort feeding only strategy and data were collected using an adapted version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in addition to a behavior observation chart, which measured their immediate behavior and affect throughout each intervention and no intervention session. The results showed a significant change or increase in the participants' observed positive behaviors and positive affect while they received the comfort feeding intervention.