Projects per year
Abstract
Care homes cater for about 30% of all deaths in England. However, sociological studies of end-of-life care (EOLC) practice in English care homes are limited, with the most recent ones appearing about 20 years ago (Sidell, Katz and Komaromy, 1997; Komaromy, 2005). To investigate current EOLC practice, this paper draws on participant observation and interviewing of care home staff in five nursing and residential care homes in the South-West of England between May 2019 and March 2020. The paper argues that care home staff manage residents’ dying to achieve what they consider a ‘natural’, and thus ‘good’, death on the care home’s premises. Crucially, to let residents die ‘naturally’, staff need to navigate the boundary between non-intervention and neglect that regulates their provision of healthcare, nutrition, and hydration to residents. The paper challenges the assumption that residents’ dying is a mere biological, and thus ‘natural’, process, and interrogates what kinds of deaths are being supported in care homes, thus contributing to the sociology of health and illness.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 5 Jul 2024 |
Event | British Society of Gerontology (BSG) 53rd Annual Conference - Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK United Kingdom Duration: 3 Jul 2024 → 5 Jul 2024 Conference number: 53 |
Conference
Conference | British Society of Gerontology (BSG) 53rd Annual Conference |
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Abbreviated title | BSG 2024 |
Country/Territory | UK United Kingdom |
City | Newcastle |
Period | 3/07/24 → 5/07/24 |
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Dive into the research topics of '‘Natural Death’ in Care Homes: The Line between Non-intervention and Neglect'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Fellowship End of Life Care in English Care Homes
Teggi, D. (PI)
3/10/22 → 30/09/23
Project: Research council