The purpose of this study was to explore spiritual and psychological issues as
experienced by persons who know they have a terminal illness. An existentialphenomenological
method was chosen to understand and articulate the structure and
meaning underlying the experience of living with the knowledge that one has a terminal
illness. The study had its genesis at the bedside(s) of people who were dying, yet living
or living, yet dying. The experience of knowing one has a terminal illness serves to bring
life and consciousness to those who may have otherwise continued to live unconsciously,
to exist in a potentially weary and dormant state, oblivious to the fact that life was
passing them by.
The evidence of experience of knowing what it means to have a terminal illness
exists in the words and expressions of the twenty-one people who graciously participated
in this study as co-researchers. They have given testimony of their own experience to
those of us who seek to understand that experience, to understand what it means to have a
terminal illness, to confront one's end to life as it is known, to embrace life or to prepare
to die. For some it was a single in-depth interview, for others there were numerous indepth
interviews over the course of two to eleven months. Eight of the twenty-one coresearcher
narratives were presented in this study. Each interview was recorded by audio
and video tape, the former being used for transcription. Subsequently, transcriptions
were reviewed for accuracy. As a measure of trustworthiness, themes were identified by
the principal investigator and presented in the context of the narrative to the coresearchers
who confirmed the data and validated the themes.
Implications based on the themes identified in this study are presented under
theory development, professional practice and future research. One of the strongest
implications pertains to clinical practice in that the results could serve as the framework
for a palliative care program which models palliative care as defined by the World Health
Organization. The co-researchers were eager to tell their stories and to speak their truth
with the hope that the care of persons with terminal illness would some day include care
of people as whole persons—physical, psychological and spiritual. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/9986 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Kuhl, David R. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 10775658 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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