Abstract
Drawing on over 300 h of fieldwork with one hospice team, this essay explores issues of personhood at the end of life, by focusing on one patient’s experience. This essay uses a narrative approach and exams the role of communication in enabling or constraining a dying person’s dignity, autonomy, and beliefs. In addition to describing the use of narrative methods in social science and medicine, this manuscript defines personhood, and explains the link between communication and personhood. The analysis of the narrative illustrates the ways healthcare workers can communicate to support a person’s sense of self until he or she dies.
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Notes
All names of individuals and organizations were changed to protect their confidentiality and anonymity.
Many thanks to Dr. Lori Roscoe for this observation.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Sonny, his family, and the staff of the Sunflower team at Coastal Hospice for supporting the project from which this manuscript is based. I learned so much about living and dying from each of you. I would also like to thank Lori Roscoe, Jill Munyan, and Lodovico Balducci for their encouragement and insights during the writing of this narrative. Finally, I would like to thank the University of South Florida’s Center for Hospice, Palliative Care and End-of-life Studies for their financial support.
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Tullis, J.A. Personhood and communication at the end of life. J Med Pers 10, 103–113 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12682-012-0131-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12682-012-0131-0