Acceptance of dying: A discourse analysis of palliative care literature

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 217 - 224
• Main Author: Zimmermann, Camilla
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2012; Elsevier; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: Acceptance; Adaptation, Psychological - ethics; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitude to Death; Biological and medical sciences; Critical Theory; Death; Death & dying; Discourse Analysis; Dying; Emotions; Ethics; Family; Foucault, Michel; Health Care Services; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hospice; Hospice Care - ethics; Hospices; Humans; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Palliative Care; Palliative Care - ethics; Palliative Care - methods; Palliative Care - psychology; Patients; Philosophy, Medical; Physician-Patient Relations; Power; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Qualitative Research; Social research; Teaching. Deontology. Ethics. Legislation; Terminal care; Terminal Care - psychology; Truth Disclosure - ethics; Acceptance; Hospice; Palliative care; Terminal care; Death; Dying; Discourse analysis; Human; Literature; Care; Palliative care unit; Social medicine; Public health

The subject of death denial in the West has been examined extensively in the sociological literature. However, there has not been a similar examination of its “opposite”, the acceptance of death. In this study, I use the qualitative method of discourse analysis to examine the use of the term “accept...