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How do trained palliative care providers experience open desire to die-conversations? An explorative thematic analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2022

Kathleen Boström*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Thomas Dojan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Carolin Rosendahl
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Leonie Gehrke
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Raymond Voltz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Duesseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Clinical Trials Center (ZKS), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Center for Health Services Research, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Kerstin Kremeike
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
*
Author for correspondence: Kathleen Boström, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Kerpener Street 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany. E-mail: kathleen.bostroem@uk-koeln.de
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Abstract

Objectives

Despite the potential benefits of open communication about possible desires to die for patients receiving palliative care, health professionals tend to avoid such conversations and often interpret desires to die as requests for medical aid in dying. After implementing trainings to foster an open, proactive approach toward desire to die, we requested trained health professionals to lead and document desire to die-conversations with their patients. In this article, we explore how trained health professionals experience an open (proactive) approach to desire to die-conversations with their patients.

Methods

Between April 2018 and March 2020, health professionals recorded their conversation-experiences on documentation sheets by answering seven open questions. A subsample was invited to offer deeper insights through semi-structured qualitative interviews. Interviews and documentation sheets were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically, then findings from both sources were compared and synthesized.

Results

Overall, N = 29 trained health professionals documented N = 81 open desire to die-conversations. A subsample of n = 13 health professionals participated in qualitative interviews. Desire to die-conversations after the training were reported as a complex but overall enriching experience, illustrated in seven themes: (1) beneficial (e.g., establishing good rapport) and (2) hindering aspects (e.g., patients’ emotional barriers) of desire to die-conversations, (3) follow-up measures, (4) ways of addressing desire to die, as well as (5) patient reactions to it. The interviews offered space for health professionals to talk about (6) content of desire to die-conversation and (7) (self-)reflection (e.g., on patients’ biographies or own performance).

Significance of results

As part of an open (proactive) approach, desire to die-conversations hold potential for health professionals’ (self-)reflection and a deeper understanding of patient background and needs. They may lead to a strengthened health professional–patient relationship and potentially prevent suicide.

Information

Type
Original Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Study procedure.

Figure 1

Table 1. Characteristics of health professionals providing documentation sheets on desire to die-conversations

Figure 2

Fig. 2. All themes from both data sources, the documentation sheets and the interviews.

Figure 3

Table 2. Shared themes, their subthemes and exemplary quotes extracted from documentation sheets of desire to die-conversations and qualitative interviews

Figure 4

Table 3. Themes, subthemes and exemplary quotes unique to the documentation sheets on desire to die-conversations

Figure 5

Table 4. Themes, subthemes and exemplary quotes unique to the qualitative interviews

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