What is A Good Death? Stories from Palliative Care

Abstract

The components of good and bad deaths have not been well elucidated in the literature. Furthermore, the value of using narratives in palliative care research has not been extensively explored. We invited people involved in palliative care (patients, caregivers, physicians, and nurses) to tell us their stories of good and bad deaths, and 15 responded. We asked them to tell us about the good and bad deaths that they had witnessed and to describe what a good death and a bad death would be like for them, personally. Several common themes emerged from their good death narratives: a death free from pain, the sense of a life well lived, and a sense of community. Common bad death themes included a painful death and a loss of control and independence. We found that the use of story in palliative care provided an opportunity to create meaning and to heal for both the teller and the listener.