Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-31T22:47:53.839Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The “good death”: An integrative literature review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2016

Laura Cottrell  and
Wendy Duggleby
Laura Cottrell*
Affiliation:
PhD Student Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Wendy Duggleby
Affiliation:
PhD Student Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Professor and Director, Innovations in Seniors Care Research Unit, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Laura Cottrell, PhD Student Faculty of Nursing Level 3, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405-87 Avenue, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6 G 1C9, Canada. E-mail: lcottrel@ualberta.ca.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The “good death” is a dynamic concept and has evolved over time to become a “revivalist” good death: a planned, peaceful, and dignified death, at home, surrounded by family members. As the “good death” continues to evolve, the key questions are: How do cultural perceptions of death and dying change? What are the forces that shape Western attitudes and beliefs around death and dying? And how does the “good death” discourse frame the dying experience in contemporary society? The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the underlying discourse in the literature on the “good death” in Western societies.

Method:

An integrative literature review of data from experimental and nonexperimental sources in PubMed, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and SocINDEX of 39 articles from 1992 to 2014.

Results:

Four main themes emerged from reviewing 39 articles on the “good death”: (1) the “good death” as control, (2) the wrong “good death,” (3) the threatened “good death,” and (4) the denial of dying.

Significance of Results:

Evolving in response to prominent social attitudes and values, the contemporary “good death” is a powerful, constraining discourse that limits spontaneity and encourages one way to die. Social, political, and demographic changes now threaten the stability of the “good death”; dying is framed as an increasingly negative or even unnecessary process, thus marginalizing the positive aspects of dying and rendering dying absent, invisible.

Keywords

“Good death,” HospicePalliative careLiterature review
Type
Review Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 14 , Issue 6 , December 2016 , pp. 686 - 712
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aries, P. (1981). The hour of our death. Trans. Weaver, H.. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Balducci, L. (2012). Death and dying: What the patient wants. Annals of Oncology, 23(Suppl. 3), iii56–iii61.Google Scholar
Bendle, M.F. (2001). The contemporary episteme of death. Cultural Values, 5(3), 349–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borbasi, S., Wotton, K., Redden, M., et al. (2005). Letting go: A qualitative study of acute care and community nurses' perceptions of a “good” versus a “bad” death. Australian Critical Care, 18(3), 104–113.Google Scholar
Bratcher, J.R. (2010). How do critical care nurses define a “good death” in the intensive care unit? Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 33(1), 87–99.Google Scholar
Broom, A. (2012). On euthanasia, resistance, and redemption: The moralities and politics of a hospice. Qualitative Health Research, 22(2), 226–237.Google Scholar
Broom, A. & Cavenagh, J. (2010). Masculinity, moralities, and being cared for: An exploration of experiences of living and dying in a hospice. Social Science & Medicine, 71, 869–876.Google Scholar
CRD (2008). Systematic reviews: CRD's guidance for undertaking reviews in health care. York: University of York, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Available from http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/pdf/Systematic_Reviews.pdf.Google Scholar
Carr, D. (2003). A good death for whom? Quality of spouse's death and psychological distress among older widowed persons. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(2), 215–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheek, J. (2004). At the margins? Discourse analysis and qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 14, 1140–1152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, M.N. (2006). Death under control: Portrayal of death in mass print English-language magazines in Canada. Omega, 52(2), 153–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Jong, J.D. & Clarke, L.E. (2009). What is a good death? Stories from palliative care. Journal of Palliative Care, 25(1), 61–69.Google Scholar
Frith, H. (2013). Making death “good”: Instructional tales for newspaper accounts of Jade Goody's death. Sociology of Health & Illness, 35(3), 419–433.Google Scholar
Goldsteen, M., Houtepen, R., Proot, I.M., et al. (2006). What is a good death? Terminally ill patients dealing with normative expectations around death and dying. Patient Education and Counseling, 64, 378–386.Google Scholar
Gott, M. (2008). Older people's views of a good death in heart failure: Implications for palliative care provision. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 1113–1121.Google Scholar
Gough, D., Thomas, J. & Oliver, S. (2012). Clarifying differences between review designs and methods. Systematic Reviews, 1, 28–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Granda-Cameron, C. & Houldin, A. (2012). Concept analysis of a good death in terminally ill patients. The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, 29(8), 632–639.Google Scholar
Hart, B., Sainsbury, P. & Short, S. (1998). Whose dying? A sociological critique of the “good death.” Mortality, 3(1), 65–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkinson, J. & Hallett, C. (2002). Good death? An exploration of newly qualified nurses' understanding of a good death. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 8(11), 532–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacques, N.D. & Hasselkus, B.R. (2004). The nature of occupation surrounding dying and death. OTJR: Occupation, Participation & Health, 24(2), 44–55.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S.R. (2000). Senescence, decline, and the quest for a good death. Journal of Aging Studies, 14(1), 1–23.Google Scholar
Kehl, K.A. (2006). Moving toward peace: An analysis of the concept of a good death. The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, 23(4), 277–287.Google Scholar
Kellehear, A. (2007). A social history of dying. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ko, E., Cho, S., Perez, R., et al. (2013). Good and bad death: Exploring the perspectives of older Mexican Americans. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 56(6), 6–25.Google Scholar
Leget, C. (2007). Retrieving the ars moriendi tradition. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 10, 313–319.Google Scholar
McNamara, B. (2004). Good enough death: Autonomy and choice in Australian palliative care. Social Science & Medicine, 58, 929–938.Google Scholar
McNamara, B. & Rosenwax, L. (2007). The mismanagement of dying. Health Sociology Review, 16, 373–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNamara, B., Waddell, C. & Colvin, M. (1994). The institutionalisation of the good death. Social Science & Medicine, 39(11), 1501–1508.Google Scholar
Madan, T.N. (1992). Dying with dignity. Social Science & Medicine, 35(4), 425–432.Google Scholar
Martin, G.P., Leslie, M., Minion, J., et al. (1999). Between surveillance and subjectification: Professionals and the governance of quality and patient safety in English hospitals. Social Science & Medicine, 99, 80–88.Google Scholar
Masson, J.D. (2002). Non-professional perceptions of a good death: A study of the views of hospice care patients and relatives of deceased hospice care patients. Mortality, 7(2), 191–209.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, H. (2014). Data analysis form. [class handout]. Department of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.Google Scholar
Pierson, C.M., Curtis, J.R. & Patrick, D.L. (2002). A good death: A qualitative study of patients with advanced AIDS. AIDS Care, 14(5), 587–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raphael, D. (2007). The politics of poverty. In Poverty and policy in Canada: Implications for health and quality of life, pp. 303–333. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.Google Scholar
Seale, C. (1998). Constructing death: The sociology of dying and bereavement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Seale, C. (2000). Changing patterns of death and dying. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 917–930.Google Scholar
Seale, C. (2004). Media constructions of dying alone: A form of “bad death.” Social Science & Medicine, 58, 967–974.Google Scholar
Semino, E., Demjen, Z. & Koller, V. (2014). Good and bad deaths: Narratives and professional identities in interviews with hospice managers. Discourse Studies, 16(5), 667–685.Google Scholar
Steinhauser, K.E., Clipp, E.C., McNeilly, M., et al. (2000). In search of a good death: Observations of patients, families, and providers. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132, 825–832.Google Scholar
Thomas, D.R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27, 237–246.Google Scholar
van Brussel, L. & Carpentier, N. (2012). The discursive construction of the good death and the dying person: A discourse theoretical analysis of Belgian newspaper articles on end of life decision making. Journal of Language and Politics, 11(4), 479–499.Google Scholar
Veillette, A.M. (2010). La belle mort en milieu rural: A report of an ethnographic study of the good death for Quebec rural Francophones. Journal of Palliative Care, 26(3), 159–166.Google Scholar
Walter, T. (2003). Historical and cultural variants on the good death. BMJ, 327, 218–220.Google Scholar
Walters, G. (2004). Is there such a thing as a good death? Palliative Medicine, 18, 404–408.Google Scholar
Watts, T. (2012). End-of-life care pathways as tools to promote and support a good death: A critical commentary. European Journal of Cancer Care, 21, 20–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whittemore, R. & Knafl, K. (2005). The integrative review: Updated methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52(5), 546–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, D.M. (2009). The “good” rural death: A report of an ethnographic study in Alberta, Canada. Journal of Palliative Care, 25(1), 21–29.Google Scholar
Zimmermann, C. (2007). Death denial: Obstacle or instrument for palliative care? Sociology of Health & Illness, 29(2), 297–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmermann, C. (2012). Acceptance of dying: A discourse analysis of palliative care literature. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 217–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmermann, C. & Rodin, G. (2004). Denial of impending death: A discourse analysis of the palliative care literature. Social Science & Medicine, 59, 1769–1780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar