Patients’ Dying Process From the Point of View of Family and Hospice Team: A Qualitative Exploration of Family Member and Hospice Team Experiences With Hospice in Korea

Abstract

The aims of this study is to analyze the experiences of family members and hospice teams regarding hospice care in Korea where culture and institution for well-dying is in the early stage. The study was conducted through in-depth interviews based on the grounded theory method. The participants were 12 individuals, 5 family members and 7 individuals from the hospice team. 133 concepts, 34 subcategories, and 11 categories were derived. The core phenomenon was “maintaining balance by becoming a ballast in the journey toward death”. From the analysis of paradigm model, this phenomenon was caused to the medical-centered hospice service, the negative social and cultural context of death. It was strategically responded to the scope and contents of the interventions by the hospice team. Systematic, policy, and implementation plans that could improve the quality of hospice care were discussed.