SMC Affiliated Work
1
Status
Faculty
School
School of Liberal Arts
Department
Communication
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Publication / Conference / Sponsorship
Behavioral Sciences
Editor
Scott J. Hunter
Description/Abstract
The current paper presents a summary of a 12-year body of research on final conversations, which will be useful for healthcare providers who work with patients and family nearing the end-of-life, as well as for patients and their family members. Final conversations encompass any and all conversations that occur between individuals with a terminal diagnosis and their family members (all participants are aware that their loved one is in the midst of the death journey). Final conversations take the family member’s perspective and highlights what are their memorable messages with the terminally ill loved one. In this paper the authors highlight the message themes present at the end-of-life for both adults and children, the functions each message theme serves for family members, and lastly, the communicative challenges of final conversations. Additionally, the authors discuss the current nature and future of final conversations research, with special attention paid to practical implications for healthcare providers, patients, and family members; also, scholarly challenges and future research endeavors are explored.
Keywords
final conversations; end-of-life communication; family communication; death and dying
DOI
10.3390/bs7020017
Volume
7
Issue
2
First Page
17
Disciplines
Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Rights
Open Access journal. This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY).
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Original Citation
Keeley, M. P., & Generous, M. A.” Final conversations: Overview and practical implications for patients, families, and healthcare workers.” Behavioral Sciences, 7(2), 1 – 9. 2017. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs7020017
Repository Citation
Generous, Mark A. and Keeley, Maureen P.. Final conversations: Overview and practical implications for patients, families, and healthcare workers (2017). Behavioral Sciences. Scott J. Hunter. 7 (2), 17 10.3390/bs7020017 [article]. https://digitalcommons.stmarys-ca.edu/school-liberal-arts-faculty-works/714
