Abstract
The aim of this research is to compare the hope experienced by advanced cancer patients in the terminal phase of neoplastic disease in relation to the stability of their basic mood. The study group consisted of 246 patients, average age 59.5. The youngest respondent was 18 and the oldest was 90. The diagnostic tools used in the work comprised the Personal Card designed by T. Witkowski (PC) and an NCN-36 test (Block’s Hope test), designed by B.L. Block to measure the strength of hope in people struggling with serious life-threatening diseases. The test consists of 4 subscales distinguished by factor analysis. Each subscale consists of 8 items. The test allows an evaluation of hope in the following dimensions: situational dimension (health, thelic-temporal dimension), goals to be achieved in the future, spiritual dimension (spirituality), religious beliefs, and emotional-motivational (affective) dimension (motivations). In cheerful patients who are in the terminal phase of cancer, mood stability does not constitute a major differentiating factor for experiencing hope. In sad people, on the other hand, mood stability affects the intensity of hope—those with an unstable mood are more likely to have a stronger emotional-motivational dimension of hope than sad people with a balanced mood.
Highlights
The conceptual range of hope is diverse
The specific objectives of the study are: (1) to describe the characteristics of hope experienced by people in the terminal phase of cancer in relation to a balanced basic mood; (2) to provide a comparison of the characteristics of hope experienced by people in the terminal phase of cancer in relation to an unstable basic mood
The results of the study of hope experienced by cancer patients in the terminal phase are presented in the following tables: Cheerful balanced and with cheerful unstable mood—Table 2; Sad balanced and with sad unstable mood—Table 3
Summary
The conceptual range of hope is diverse. While some researchers believe that a greater importance in the analysis of hope should be given to the cognitive aspect, others think that the main focus should be on the motivation that leads an individual to take action. In the understanding of Fromm [1], hope is a constant readiness for what is being born, for what is not yet there. It is an intense, unfinished activity, and is accompanied by faith as a belief in the not yet shown possibility of what is not yet available, as a certainty of the uncertain. Hope in this approach is an expression of intense but not yet fulfilled activity, which in a given situation reveals itself at the right time. It is based on events that have not yet come to an end and refers to something that is supposed to happen in the future and is about to be completed soon [3]
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