Social Science and Medicine, 71(5), September 2010, pp.869-876.
Publisher:
Elsevier
... of death and dying and their experiences of being cared for. A number of themes emerged: tensions around what constitutes ‘the good death’; dying and caring as moral practice; and, the centrality of gender identity and relations in shaping experiences of dying and caring. They argue for a sociological approach to death and dying that better elucidates the interplay of identity, morality and relationality
Despite the increasingly important role of hospices in end of life care in Australia and internationally, the in-patient hospice experience has received relatively little attention from sociologists. The authors examine the perspectives of 11 male and 9 female in-patients in the last few weeks of their lives. Through a series of qualitative in-depth interviews, they explore their conceptions of death and dying and their experiences of being cared for. A number of themes emerged: tensions around what constitutes ‘the good death’; dying and caring as moral practice; and, the centrality of gender identity and relations in shaping experiences of dying and caring. They argue for a sociological approach to death and dying that better elucidates the interplay of identity, morality and relationality at the end of life.
Subject terms:
hospices, self-concept, terminal illness, user views, dying, end of life care, gender;
THE KOSH, (Producer), MERWITZER Michael, WILLIAMS Sian, (Directors)
Publisher:
The Kosh
Publication year:
2007
Pagination:
(44 mins.), DVD
Place of publication:
London
Funded by The City Bridge Trust and Comic Relief, this two year video project began in October 2005. It has been developed in collaboration with the Oxford Befriending Network, the Policy Research Institute for Ageing and Ethnicity, St. Christopher's Hospice and Help the Hospices. Conversations to Remember is an intimate portrayal of how people deal with end-of-life issues. People with life-threatening conditions and carers talk freely about what is important to them, ways of coping and in their words “living with dying”. Conversations to Remember gives a voice to those people who are rarely heard and is based on a series of open-ended video interviews with eleven participants, involving a wide range of respondents in terms of age, gender, terminal illness, ethnic background and location. Conversations to Remember is designed to stimulate discussion, to communicate what people dealing with end-of-life issues really think and want and to help health professionals and policy makers develop appropriate services and responses
Funded by The City Bridge Trust and Comic Relief, this two year video project began in October 2005. It has been developed in collaboration with the Oxford Befriending Network, the Policy Research Institute for Ageing and Ethnicity, St. Christopher's Hospice and Help the Hospices. Conversations to Remember is an intimate portrayal of how people deal with end-of-life issues. People with life-threatening conditions and carers talk freely about what is important to them, ways of coping and in their words “living with dying”. Conversations to Remember gives a voice to those people who are rarely heard and is based on a series of open-ended video interviews with eleven participants, involving a wide range of respondents in terms of age, gender, terminal illness, ethnic background and location. Conversations to Remember is designed to stimulate discussion, to communicate what people dealing with end-of-life issues really think and want and to help health professionals and policy makers develop appropriate services and responses
Social Science and Medicine, 67(9), November 2008, pp.1456-1464.
Publisher:
Elsevier
The relationship between mortality and marital status has long been recognized, but only a small number of investigations consider also the association with cohabitation status. Moreover, age and gender differences have not been sufficiently clarified. In addition, little is known on this matter about the Italian elderly population. The aim of this study is to examine differentials in survival with respect to marital status and cohabitation status in order to evaluate their possible predictive value on mortality of an Italian elderly cohort. This paper employs data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA), an extensive epidemiologic project on subjects aged 65–84 years. Of the 5376 individuals followed-up from 1992 to 2002, 1977 died, and 1492 were lost during follow-up period. The baseline interview was administered to 84% of the 5376 individuals and 65% of them underwent biological and instrumental examination. Relative risks of mortality for marital (married vs. non-married) and cohabitation (not living alone vs. living alone) categories are estimated through hazard ratios (HR), obtained by means of the Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusting for age and several other potentially confounding variables. Non-married men (HR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.03–1.52) and those living alone (HR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.05–1.92) show a statistically significant increased mortality risk compared to their married or cohabiting counterparts. After age-adjustment, women's survival is influenced neither by marital status nor by cohabitation status. None of the other covariates significantly alters the observed differences in mortality, in either gender. Neither marital nor cohabitation status are independent predictors of mortality among Italian women 65+, while among men living alone is a predictor of mortality even stronger than not being married. These results suggest that Italian men benefit more than women from the protective effect of living with someone.
The relationship between mortality and marital status has long been recognized, but only a small number of investigations consider also the association with cohabitation status. Moreover, age and gender differences have not been sufficiently clarified. In addition, little is known on this matter about the Italian elderly population. The aim of this study is to examine differentials in survival with respect to marital status and cohabitation status in order to evaluate their possible predictive value on mortality of an Italian elderly cohort. This paper employs data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA), an extensive epidemiologic project on subjects aged 65–84 years. Of the 5376 individuals followed-up from 1992 to 2002, 1977 died, and 1492 were lost during follow-up period. The baseline interview was administered to 84% of the 5376 individuals and 65% of them underwent biological and instrumental examination. Relative risks of mortality for marital (married vs. non-married) and cohabitation (not living alone vs. living alone) categories are estimated through hazard ratios (HR), obtained by means of the Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusting for age and several other potentially confounding variables. Non-married men (HR = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.03–1.52) and those living alone (HR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.05–1.92) show a statistically significant increased mortality risk compared to their married or cohabiting counterparts. After age-adjustment, women's survival is influenced neither by marital status nor by cohabitation status. None of the other covariates significantly alters the observed differences in mortality, in either gender. Neither marital nor cohabitation status are independent predictors of mortality among Italian women 65+, while among men living alone is a predictor of mortality even stronger than not being married. These results suggest that Italian men benefit more than women from the protective effect of living with someone.
... of topics and highlights some of the key themes that emerge. Areas covered include: personal relationships, Government spending and welfare, Politics, Health, Gender roles, Devolution, and Social class. Additional chapters on Dying: discussion and planning for end of life; and Public satisfaction with NHS services (including details on social care services) are also are available to download from
The annual British Social Attitudes survey asks over 3,000 people what it is like to live in Britain and how they think Britain is run. The reports aim to track people's changing social, political and moral attitudes. It also draws out what this means in terms of current policy debates, and tries to predict how attitudes might shift over the next few decades. The report covers a wide range of topics and highlights some of the key themes that emerge. Areas covered include: personal relationships, Government spending and welfare, Politics, Health, Gender roles, Devolution, and Social class. Additional chapters on Dying: discussion and planning for end of life; and Public satisfaction with NHS services (including details on social care services) are also are available to download from the website.
Subject terms:
public opinion, surveys, attitudes, social welfare, interpersonal relationships, politics, NHS, health care, socioeconomic groups, gender, devolution, end of life care, dying;
National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services
Publication year:
2001
Pagination:
116p.,bibliog.
Place of publication:
London
It is evident that black and ethnic minority people were not utilising hospice and specialist palliative care services in proportion to their numbers. Access was limited because of low referral rates, lack of knowledge and information about services, and because black and ethnic minorities preferred to care for dying patients at home. Low rates of cancer were seen as one reason for low uptake,
It is evident that black and ethnic minority people were not utilising hospice and specialist palliative care services in proportion to their numbers. Access was limited because of low referral rates, lack of knowledge and information about services, and because black and ethnic minorities preferred to care for dying patients at home. Low rates of cancer were seen as one reason for low uptake, but the figures were likely to have been inaccurate because of poor ethnic monitoring. When the services were utilised there were reported problems of communication and misunderstandings over cultural, religious and gender issues.
Subject terms:
home care, hospices, multicultural society, older people, palliative care, terminal illness, unmet need, access to services, black and minority ethnic people, cancer, cultural identity, dying, gender;