Relational and symbolic process: decisions regarding the place of death in the context of advanced cancer.
Patrícia Chatalov Ferreira, Marcelle Miranda Silva, Mayckel Silva Barreto and 5 others
PMID 42546076WHAT IT FOUND
Choosing home or hospital for death was described as a negotiation over pain control, family capacity, and communication.
Nurses and other team members appeared as mediators, but the study did not show one setting as better.
Key findings
01There was no unanimous preference for home or hospital; each setting carried meanings of safety, comfort, dignity, or fear.
02Control of pain and suffering was central to deciding whether home remained feasible or hospital became the choice.
03Communication among patients, families, and professionals mediated conflicts and helped build shared meanings about place of death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Family members were interviewed after the death, so their accounts may reconstruct events. Most interviews were remote, which may have limited perception of nonverbal cues. Participants were mainly women and urban, so rural and male perspectives were limited. The study describes meanings and conflicts; it did not test interventions or compare outcomes.
Declared interests
The paper reports financial support from CAPES through a doctoral fellowship for the lead author. It does not report other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that home death is preferable or that nurse mediation improves decisions. The study describes meanings and conflicts; it did not test an intervention or compare outcomes.