Presents argument in favor of being supportive of terminally-ill person's choice to deny death's inevitability. Presents illustrative case study on choice of denial and draws upon supportive work of some of foremost experts in the field of death and dying. Addresses implications for dying person's counselor and consequences for dying person's…

Examined responses of 1,110 terminally ill persons with cancer at varying time periods prior to death. Disengagement and Objective Self-Awareness theories, which suggest that people nearing death would increase desire to separate from others, were not supported. Found few differences in responses of persons further from, or closer to, death.…

Examined relationships among death anxiety, disclosure behaviors, and attitudes toward terminal care of 99 oncologists. Found death anxiety scores lower for oncologists than typically reported for physicians. Short-term repeated exposure to dying patients resulted in comfort with dying patients whereas long-term repeated exposure resulted in…

Art work produced by geriatric patient on psychiatric ward illustrated metaphors of loss. After three months, patient was diagnosed with liver cancer; she died three weeks later. All work was produced before cancer diagnosis, yet it showed similarities to work by cancer patients, suggesting that client unconsciously knew she was dying and worked…

Reports on abandoned study examining potential benefits of psychotherapy to terminal cancer patients. Preliminary feasibility study found physicians' attitudes toward their dying patients as reformed and progressive. Interest shown by physicians did not translate into tangible research effort in spite of active pursuit by investigator over period…

Notes that burnout among caregivers of the terminally ill is related to the various ways in which people meet their death. Provides examples of reactions to different types of death and makes suggestions for identifying and coping with caregiver burnout throughout the spectrum of individuals, relationships, and modes of death. (Author/NB)

Presents sentiment argument, distinguishing artificial feeding from medical treatments which may be discontinued when there is little hope of recovery. Describes probable origins of feelings about food and drink and shows that such feelings cannot be transferred without distortion to the hospital world. Argues that authentic sentiment seems to…

Examined 25 dream reports of individuals in Palliative Care Unit. Content analysis of dream reports supports hypothesis that continuity exists between dreaming and waking experience. Results did not indicate that themes of death and aggression, negative emotion, or infant and child characters were more prevalent among the dying. (Author/NB)

Analyzed how nurses deal with terminal and dying patients in two inpatient wards in Belgian general hospital. Observed that nurses often felt dissatisfied with their terminal caregiving. Suggests terminal care include specific physical, social, religious, and psychological services, given to terminal patient and family, to obtain as high a level…

Interviewed 100 terminally ill cancer patients to examine farewells made before the interview and those desired and planned but not yet completed. Most patients (81 percent) desired to farewell; most wanted farewell to occur late in course of their dying. Prominent in preferred styles of farewells were the gift, conversation, and letter.…

Reviews literature on burnout and its prevention among caregivers to dying. Concludes that health care providers working with dying experience stressors unique to their specialty but also experience stressors common to other health care workers. Summarizes external and internal stressors common to specialty field and offers suggestions for…

Notes that, in survey of 50 cancer patients offered living wills, 6 individuals declined to sign advance directives. Contains detailed evaluation of each of six cases. Discusses potential value of living wills in context of other, newer forms of advance directives, such as durable power of attorney for health care, and more detailed living will…

Conducted pilot survey of 64 patients with late stage malignancy who had signed living wills. Found that 70.3 percent were grateful for opportunity to sign living will and maintain autonomy over their terminal care, 20.3 percent were either apparently indifferent or unwilling to discuss issue, and 9.4 percent appeared disturbed by their signing of…

Reviews novels dealing with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, noting that their perspectives on death can be extracted through content analysis. Concludes that, overall, these novels present weak symbolization about death with rituals that are not highly elaborated and that complex images of the afterlife are not offered.…

Discusses, in context of physician-patient relationship, workable model on advance directives for physicians to use with patients along with appropriate guidelines. Examines variables involved in establishment of guidelines for use by physician in office and inpatient settings. Identifies key management and clinical factors for initiating and…