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Demystifying Dying in End-of-Life-Care: A Phenomenological Perspective [PCC206]

Wednesday May 6, 2026 12:15 - 13:30 Poster Arena

Presenter: Elisabet Sernbo

Track: Poster

This presentation stems from a research project involving physicians and social workers, focusing on experiences of the process of dying. The empirical material consisted of interviews with patients in palliative care and their significant others, and the analysis was grounded in phenomenology. The analysis highlighted the lived experiences of the participants—embedded in time, identities, social relations, and everyday lives—and showed how the possibility of sense-making was conditioned by the lifeworld. Based on this analysis, we conclude that professionals can and should offer support to patients and significant others, as the end of life often entails multi-faceted suffering. We suggest that this support be understood as reorienting work: helping people when their lines are disrupted or need to be altered. This requires the display of radical empathy, which must be at the core of professional practice and cultivated in the complex, everyday situations of person-centred care.
Language

English

Conference

GCPCC

GCPCC Code

PCC206

Lecturers

Elisabet Sernbo Presenter

Elisabet Sernbo, Magnus Weber, Charlotta Öhrling, Stina Nyblom