Name
Breakout Session 8B: Vulnerability, (Dis)Trust, and (No)Fellowship: Existential Encounters Between Older Patients with Acquired Deafblindness and Caregivers
Date & Time
Thursday, July 27, 2023, 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Location Name
Room 203
Country of Submission
Norway
Description

Living with deafblindness means experiencing severe challenges regarding communication, access to information, mobility, and orientation. These challenges generate existential concerns and crises regarding spiritual, religious, and secular needs. Age-related processes, such as frailty, make older patients with acquired deafblindness particularly exposed to existential suffering, which caregivers must address. However, caregivers often do not identify their patient’s existential needs. Hence, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences of older patients with acquired deafblindness when receiving existential care and of caregivers providing existential care to the patient group. The findings show that older patients with acquired deafblindness and caregivers experience moments of mutual connectedness supportive for patients’ existential well-being. In a time where time-cost regulations steer healthcare services, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of trustful relationships between patients and caregivers for experiencing spiritual, religious, and social fellowships.