Dignity therapy resulted in a beneficial effect on depression and anxiety symptoms in end-of-life care. The therapeutic benefit of dignity therapy was sustained over a 30-day period. Having established its efficacy, future trials of dignity therapy may now begin, comparing it with other psychotherapeutic approaches within the context of terminal illness.

Objective: Dignity therapy (DT) is a short-term psychotherapy developed for patients living with a life-limiting illness. Our aim was to determine the influence of DT on symptoms of depression and anxiety in people with a life-threatening disease with high level of distress, referred to an inpatient palliative care unit.Method:This was an open-label randomized controlled trial. Sixty terminally ill patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: intervention group (DTþ standard palliative care [SPC]) or control group (SPC alone). The main outcomes were symptoms of depression and anxiety, measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, assessed at baseline, day 4, day 15, and day 30 of follow-up.Results: Of the 60 participants, 29 were randomized to DTand 31 to SPC. Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. DT was associated with a significant decrease in depressive symptoms at day 4 and day 15 (mean ¼ 24.46, 95% CI, 26.91-2.02, p ¼ 0.001; mean¼ 23.96, 95% CI, 27.33 to 20.61; p ¼ 0.022, respectively), but not at day 30 (mean ¼ 23.33, 95% CI, 27.32-0.65, p ¼ 0.097). DTwas also associated with a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms at each follow-up (mean¼ 23.96, 95% CI, 26.66 to 21.25, p ¼ 0.005; mean¼ 26.19, 95% CI, 210.49 to 21.88, p ¼ 0.006; mean ¼ 25.07, 95% CI, 210.22 to 20.09, p ¼ 0.054, respectively).Significance of results: DT appears to have a short-term beneficial effect on the depression and anxiety symptoms that often accompany patients at the end of their lives. Future research with larger samples compared with other treatments is needed to better understand the potential benefits of this psychotherapy.

Dignity therapy had a beneficial effect on the psychological distress encountered by patients near the end of life. Our research suggests that DT is an important psychotherapeutic approach that should be included in clinical care programs, and it could help more patients to cope with their end-of-life experiences.

O ARTIGO aborda a mestiçagem, a condição de afro-descendência e a classificação racial oficial do Brasil (IBGE), além de tecer breves considerações sobre os conceitos de raça e de etnia; identidade racial/étnica; e políticas de ação afirmativa segundo sexo/gênero e raça/etnia. Conforme convenção do IBGE, no Brasil, negro é quem se autodeclara preto ou pardo, pois população negra é o somatório de pretos e pardos. Para fins políticos, negra é a pessoa de ancestralidade africana, desde que assim se identifique.
THIS ARTICLE deals with mixed ancestry, the condition of afro-descent and the official classification of races in Brazil, and includes brief considerations on the concepts of race and ethnicity, on racial/ethnic identification, and on sex/gender- and race/ethnicity-specific affirmative action policies. According to convention adopted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a black person in Brazil is anyone who claims to be black or brown, inasmuch as the black population is deemed as the sum total of all blacks and mulattos. In political terms, a black person is anyone of African descent who identifies him/herself as such

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