Citation

Florijn BW, der Graaf HV, Schoones JW, Kaptein AA. Death Stud. 2018; ePub(ePub): 1-12.

Affiliation

Department of Medical Psychology , Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) , Leiden , The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/07481187.2018.1504350

PMID

30265841

Abstract

Not all physicians readily discuss death with their terminal patients. To explore whether physicians discuss dying with their terminal patients and to pursue an in-depth understanding of patients' perceptions of death, we interviewed terminal cancer patients in a Dutch hospice and compared their stories to quotes from two autobiographies on dying from cancer, Christopher Hitchens' Mortality and Anatole Broyard's Intoxicated by my illness. This narrative medicine study could potentially teach physicians they should discuss impending death to prevent the use of an invasive medical treatment that typically extends the quantity, but not the quality, of life.

Language: en