Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Encountering Death and Dying'
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1
Rice, James Paul. "Death, Dying and Decisionmaking." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.496011.
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White, Amanda M. "Death and Dying in Assisted Living." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2009. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/gerontology_theses/17.
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This study examined death and dying in assisted living (AL) and the various factors that influence these processes. The study is set in a 60-bed assisted living facility outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Data collection methods included participant observation and in-depth interviews with 28 residents and 6 staff. Data were analyzed using the grounded theory approach and focused on the 18 residents who were dying and/or died during the study period. Findings show that AL residents experience a variety of dying trajectories that vary in duration and shape; for the majority of residents, hospice is an important element in their death and dying experiences. In general, death is not communicated or acknowledged formally within the facility. Responses to deaths depend largely on the nature of the relationship the deceased resident had with others. Findings have implications for how to handle death and dying in AL and to improve residents‟ experiences.
3
Snoddy, Ashley Marie. "Death and Dying in Adolescent Literature." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1394210773.
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Winther, Sarah. "Dying Traditions." Thesis, Konstfack, Ädellab, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:konstfack:diva-5567.
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Within a year I lost three close family members. My grandfather, my grandmother and my stepfather. Three very different deaths and therefore very different mourning periods were entangled and intertwined. Death suddenly became a ubiquitous part of my life, and the sorrow an overshadowing part of my everyday. This period in my life became the starting point for my thesis 'Dying Traditions'. In todays Western Society we have become so good at prolonging life, that most people get to live a long life and die of old age. But the advancements in medical science have, together with the institutionalization, removed death from our daily life. We are no longer in contact with death aside from what we see through media and movies. We are missing a way of coping with the natural death, which makes it difficult to grasp and surrounds it with a taboo. With my work I want to facilitate a conversation surrounding death. By the use of contemporary jewellery and silversmithing work I want to place the conversation and presence of death in both the public, private and personal space. I want to create a starting point for new rituals to work through a mourning period. I make use of my own personal experiences as a starting point to create contemporary Memento Mori objects fitting for todays Northern European Society.Photos are removed due to copy rights.
5
Sandman, Lars. "A good death : on the value of death and dying /." Göteborg : Acta universitatis Gothoburgensis, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb39139983k.
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Ekwomadu, Christian. "Dying with Dignity." Thesis, Linköping University, Centre for Applied Ethics, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-9201.
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The concept of dignity has beeen one of the ambiguous concepts in biomedical ethics. Thus the ambiguous nature of this concept has been extended to what it means to die with dignity. This research work is an investigation into the complexity in the understanding of "dying with dignity" in Applied Ethics.
7
Hiley, Victoria. "In Pursuit of a Good Death: Managing Changing Sensibilities Toward Death and Dying." University of Sydney, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2611.
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Doctor of Juridical ScienceThis thesis challenges a number of claims that are made in the context of the euthanasia debate: that there is only one version of the good death; that rights discourse is the most appropriate vehicle by which to secure legal recognition of a right to die; that the Netherlands is either a model for reform or the epitome of a slippery slope in its regulation of euthanasia; and that a key argument in the euthanasia debate, the sanctity of life doctrine, is a fixed, immutable concept. In this thesis I use process sociology, developed by Norbert Elias, in order to capture changing sensibilities toward death and dying in the common law jurisdictions (Australia, England, the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand) and in the Netherlands. At the same time I analyse changing attitudes among key groups whose work impacts upon the euthanasia debate namely, parliamentarians, law reform bodies, the judiciary and medical associations. My aim in adopting this approach is threefold. First of all, to examine evolving attitudes to death and dying in order to determine whether the institutions of law and medicine are responding in an adequate manner to changing sensibilities in the common law countries and in the Netherlands. Secondly, to highlight shifting balances of power within the euthanasia debate. Thirdly, to assess whether the various options for reform that I discuss are workable or not. In this thesis I show that there appears to be a sensibility of support in the common law countries for euthanasia to be legally available when an adult is terminally ill, is experiencing pain that he or she cannot bear and has expressed a wish to die (the typical euthanasia scenario). However, the situation is far from clear cut. The methods adopted by one of the ways of measuring sensibilities, opinion polls, suggest that sensibilities may not always be well-informed. Further, attitudes within and between key groups are not uniform or settled. In the context of this unsettled state of affairs, I show that responses to changing sensibilities from law and medicine in the common law jurisdictions are far from satisfactory. So far as legal responses are concerned, case law outcomes in right to die applications suggest a lack of flexibility. Outcomes in prosecutions following active voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide reveal a non-application of established legal principles and suggest that the courts do not focus, squarely, upon the real issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. Medical responses are similarly less than optimal due to a tendency to de-emphasise existential (emotional) pain which, research shows, is the prime motivating factor in requests to be assisted to die sooner. Responses to changing sensibilities to death and dying in the Netherlands are also unsatisfactory because of the disorganised manner in which euthanasia was legalised and because regulation is inadequate. I come to the conclusion that there are three ways in which we could possibly resolve these problems and increase the flexibility of responses to changing sensibilities toward death and dying. They are as follows: by legalising euthanasia; by permitting a defence of necessity; or, by liberalising the use of terminal sedation in end-of-life care. Of these three, I conclude, in light of shifting sensibilities and overall negative attitudes among key groups to euthanasia, that the last is the most appropriate option at the present time. In closing, I address some of the larger issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. In particular, I deal with the effect that changing sensibilities toward the process of dying have had upon human social life, leading to the problematic situation that Elias referred to as the ‘loneliness of the dying’.
8
Jacques, Denise. "Death and dying in England, 1600-1680." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/5090.
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Forbes, Karen. "Teaching and learning about death and dying." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.434784.
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Niederriter, Joan E. "Student nurses' perception of death and dying." Cleveland, Ohio : Cleveland State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1246756404.
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Thesis ( Ph.D.)--Cleveland State University, 2009.Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 22, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-160). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center and also available in print.
11
Rogers, Philip. "Life in death an Orthodox pastoral approach to death and dying /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2007. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p015-0461.
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Herington, Thomas. "Making Dying Better: Envisioning a Meaningful Death by Contemplating the Assisted Death." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34977.
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The contemporary juridico-political and bioethical debate over physician assisted dying has emerged as one of the most divisive of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Commonly strained through Western conceptions of individual rights and near ubiquitous calls for the respect an abstractly defined human dignity, popular discourse on assisted dying tends to promote universal understandings of both human beings as well as ethical, legal, moral action. This thesis, however, holds these debates in abeyance preferring rather to explore the ways in which the possibility of an assisted death creates a more meaningful dying space for many Canadian advocates. And though I cannot answer for everyone, for many of the 24 individuals I spent months interviewing, “hanging out” with and generally following around to various meetings/training sessions, the assisted death is not some nihilistic response to the suffering of our materially bounded/feeling bodies, but a contemporary recurrence of a deeply spiritual, relational and artful dying.
13
Yang, Yoo Sung. "Pastoral care for the dying." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1987. http://www.tren.com.
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Hiley, Victoria. "In Pursuit of a Good Death: Managing Changing Sensibilities Toward Death and Dying." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2614.
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This thesis challenges a number of claims that are made in the context of the euthanasia debate: that there is only one version of the good death; that rights discourse is the most appropriate vehicle by which to secure legal recognition of a right to die; that the Netherlands is either a model for reform or the epitome of a slippery slope in its regulation of euthanasia; and that a key argument in the euthanasia debate, the sanctity of life doctrine, is a fixed, immutable concept. In this thesis I use process sociology, developed by Norbert Elias, in order to capture changing sensibilities toward death and dying in the common law jurisdictions (Australia, England, the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand) and in the Netherlands. At the same time I analyse changing attitudes among key groups whose work impacts upon the euthanasia debate namely, parliamentarians, law reform bodies, the judiciary and medical associations. My aim in adopting this approach is threefold. First of all, to examine evolving attitudes to death and dying in order to determine whether the institutions of law and medicine are responding in an adequate manner to changing sensibilities in the common law countries and in the Netherlands. Secondly, to highlight shifting balances of power within the euthanasia debate. Thirdly, to assess whether the various options for reform that I discuss are workable or not. In this thesis I show that there appears to be a sensibility of support in the common law countries for euthanasia to be legally available when an adult is terminally ill, is experiencing pain that he or she cannot bear and has expressed a wish to die (the typical euthanasia scenario). However, the situation is far from clear cut. The methods adopted by one of the ways of measuring sensibilities, opinion polls, suggest that sensibilities may not always be well-informed. Further, attitudes within and between key groups are not uniform or settled. In the context of this unsettled state of affairs, I show that responses to changing sensibilities from law and medicine in the common law jurisdictions are far from satisfactory. So far as legal responses are concerned, case law outcomes in right to die applications suggest a lack of flexibility. Outcomes in prosecutions following active voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide reveal a non-application of established legal principles and suggest that the courts do not focus, squarely, upon the real issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. Medical responses are similarly less than optimal due to a tendency to de-emphasise existential (emotional) pain which, research shows, is the prime motivating factor in requests to be assisted to die sooner. Responses to changing sensibilities to death and dying in the Netherlands are also unsatisfactory because of the disorganised manner in which euthanasia was legalised and because regulation is inadequate. I come to the conclusion that there are three ways in which we could possibly resolve these problems and increase the flexibility of responses to changing sensibilities toward death and dying. They are as follows: by legalising euthanasia; by permitting a defence of necessity; or, by liberalising the use of terminal sedation in end-of-life care. Of these three, I conclude, in light of shifting sensibilities and overall negative attitudes among key groups to euthanasia, that the last is the most appropriate option at the present time. In closing, I address some of the larger issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. In particular, I deal with the effect that changing sensibilities toward the process of dying have had upon human social life, leading to the problematic situation that Elias referred to as the ‘loneliness of the dying’.
15
Hall, Lindsay Anne. "Death, Power, and the Body: A Bio-political Analysis of Death and Dying." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32811.
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According to Michel Foucault, life has become the focus of an infinite amount of both micro and macro management strategies, the point of which being to optimize health and to prolong life. Foucault labeled such strategies as â bio-power.â While bio-power exists on many levels of society, my focus has been on certain medical technologies that have helped to expose the political nature of death by calling into question the time of death and who decides it. As the line between life and death has become more and more indistinct, Giorgio Agamben has argued that bio-politics turns into â thanatopoliticsâ â a politics of death. As Agamben argues, death is not a biological moment but a political decision. In this study I will focus specifically on reconsidering the relations of power surrounding the decision to stop preserving life in the particular space of the hospital room. I will then attempt to consider how our exposure to death in this space of power might be resisted using both the insights of Foucault and Agamben.Master of Arts
16
Hiley, Victoria. "In Pursuit of a Good Death: Managing Changing Sensibilities Toward Death and Dying." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2611.
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This thesis challenges a number of claims that are made in the context of the euthanasia debate: that there is only one version of the good death; that rights discourse is the most appropriate vehicle by which to secure legal recognition of a right to die; that the Netherlands is either a model for reform or the epitome of a slippery slope in its regulation of euthanasia; and that a key argument in the euthanasia debate, the sanctity of life doctrine, is a fixed, immutable concept. In this thesis I use process sociology, developed by Norbert Elias, in order to capture changing sensibilities toward death and dying in the common law jurisdictions (Australia, England, the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand) and in the Netherlands. At the same time I analyse changing attitudes among key groups whose work impacts upon the euthanasia debate namely, parliamentarians, law reform bodies, the judiciary and medical associations. My aim in adopting this approach is threefold. First of all, to examine evolving attitudes to death and dying in order to determine whether the institutions of law and medicine are responding in an adequate manner to changing sensibilities in the common law countries and in the Netherlands. Secondly, to highlight shifting balances of power within the euthanasia debate. Thirdly, to assess whether the various options for reform that I discuss are workable or not. In this thesis I show that there appears to be a sensibility of support in the common law countries for euthanasia to be legally available when an adult is terminally ill, is experiencing pain that he or she cannot bear and has expressed a wish to die (the typical euthanasia scenario). However, the situation is far from clear cut. The methods adopted by one of the ways of measuring sensibilities, opinion polls, suggest that sensibilities may not always be well-informed. Further, attitudes within and between key groups are not uniform or settled. In the context of this unsettled state of affairs, I show that responses to changing sensibilities from law and medicine in the common law jurisdictions are far from satisfactory. So far as legal responses are concerned, case law outcomes in right to die applications suggest a lack of flexibility. Outcomes in prosecutions following active voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide reveal a non-application of established legal principles and suggest that the courts do not focus, squarely, upon the real issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. Medical responses are similarly less than optimal due to a tendency to de-emphasise existential (emotional) pain which, research shows, is the prime motivating factor in requests to be assisted to die sooner. Responses to changing sensibilities to death and dying in the Netherlands are also unsatisfactory because of the disorganised manner in which euthanasia was legalised and because regulation is inadequate. I come to the conclusion that there are three ways in which we could possibly resolve these problems and increase the flexibility of responses to changing sensibilities toward death and dying. They are as follows: by legalising euthanasia; by permitting a defence of necessity; or, by liberalising the use of terminal sedation in end-of-life care. Of these three, I conclude, in light of shifting sensibilities and overall negative attitudes among key groups to euthanasia, that the last is the most appropriate option at the present time. In closing, I address some of the larger issues at stake in the euthanasia debate. In particular, I deal with the effect that changing sensibilities toward the process of dying have had upon human social life, leading to the problematic situation that Elias referred to as the ‘loneliness of the dying’.
17
Mast, Bruce A. "Dying is easy, but living is hard." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1985. http://www.tren.com.
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Bertoia, Judi. "Drawings from a dying child : a case study approach." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28964.
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Only in the past two decades have adults become aware that terminally ill children do know at some level when they are dying. This research used a case study format to investigate the changes in how one child dying of leukemia viewed herself. Specifically, it looked for symbolic and emotional themes which emerged in the material, including Decathexis (separation) and Rebirth. Each of twenty-eight drawings created by this child was analyzed in-depth for content by the researcher. Convergent material from hospital records and a parent journal supplemented the stories and teacher notes accompanying the drawings. Six experts from three countries also categorized each drawing for images of Decathexis and Rebirth. Initially, themes of threats, dreams, trickery and intuition appeared along with fear and sadness. Once the child seemed to clearly understand that she would die, these changed to fading and distancing images, indicative of separation. There was a slight increase in images supporting themes of resignation and happiness. Physical deterioration and resistance appeared throughout the series as distortions of a girl and dilapidated and edged houses. Themes of a new home and travel also appeared throughout. The classification by experts according to Decathexis and Rebirth resulted in unanimous agreement on twenty-five per cent of the pictures and two thirds of the experts agreed on the placement of eighty-six per cent of the pictures. It would appear that on one level the child knew from the beginning that she would die, but at another level she resisted that knowledge for a time. As clear awareness of death was developing, defensive themes such as trickery and dreaming appeared in stories which accompanied the drawings. However, the images, themes and convergent material suggest that she reconciled the dual awareness levels and worked towards acceptance of her fate.Education, Faculty of
Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of
Graduate
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White, R. L. Jr. "Death, dying, and grieving: Providing a ministry of caring." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 1996. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/AAIDP14689.
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This project dissertation, entitled Death, Dying, and Grieving: Providing a Ministry of Caring, approaches the issue of establishing a ministry of caring for parishioners who are experiencing grief. Also included in this work is how the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, archaeology and psychology have attempted to address the issue of death and grief. A biblical history of death, dying, and grief is discussed and a theological framework for grieving.
The dissertation gives a description of the development of a counseling group, support group and all of the intricacies involved in the institution of a ministry of caring for the Mount Ephraim Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Desougi, Maria M. A. "Death and dying in human and companion canine relations." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20552.
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Since before the Neolithic Revolution, when human civilisation first emerged, humans and canines have lived, and died, together. This Scottish study is conducted in the field of animal-human interaction and, using qualitative methods, applies established insights from the sociology of health (born of human-to-human interaction) to a human-animal relationship. Specifically, this thesis explores death and dying in relations between the companion canines, and the human members, of ten families. Nonhuman illness narratives are found in profusion in this study, and it was also found to be possible to apply biographical disruption to nonhumans, when conceptualised as biographical disruption-by-proxy. Unexpectedly, there emerged from the data support for a four-fold model of canine selfhood, as forged within the family. This is, as far as I am aware, the first modelling of a specific nonhuman consciousness, within the discipline. Suffering was found to exist in both physical and non-physical forms for the companions, and a mutual vulnerability to loneliness, and desire for companionship, appears to be a powerful point of connection between the humans and the canines. Being together emerged as both a practice, and as an ideal, that moulded the human-canine relations, and it was regarded as unfitting for a canine to die alone. Companion canine dying comes forth as a negotiated process, shaped by a divide between gradual and sudden death. This work encountered developed narratives of departure, that seem to structure the experience of losing a companion. In particular the role of the expert is a privileged voice in the negotiations of dying, and the biomedical view is treated as being definitive. The role of the expert is not simply submitted to however, but a range of stances to veterinary authority are displayed, being; acquiescence, resistance and invalidation of the veterinary voice. Ultimately, whilst interplays of wellbeing are present, they are less biophysically grounded, than they are rooted in the everyday routines of life, in the rituals of eating, sleeping, walking, and playing together, that compose the shared world of the human and companion canine.
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Mazer, Therese M. "Death and dying in a hospice : an ethnographic study." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/20001.
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Hospice care is believed to offer the best care for terminally ill patients (Manning, 1984). This thesis explores how patients on a hospice in-patient unit perceived and responded to surrounding dying and multiple deaths which they encountered. The approach to this ethnographic study incorporates the participant observation technique and underscores the symbolic interactionist component in generating a theoretical explanation. A sensitising concept, 'openness to death', suggested in the literature on the hospice movement, provided direction for the fieldwork. The fieldwork was undertaken over an eight month period. Patients admitted to the hospice in-patient unit during this time were potential participants. Selection of participants was based on their desire and consent, and/or their physical and mental capabilities to participate in the study. Assessments of patients' ability to participate were aided by information from attending hand-over reports and making regular round through the unit to check on their conditions. Staff and relatives' views are incorporated into the thesis. Hospice ideology is challenged through the strategies practised by the staff in this hospice. In this thesis the ways in which patients discovered death are discussed. Various elements of dying and death vigils are presented, and patients' responses to dying and multiple deaths are explored.
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Adamson, Veronica Margaret Farquhar. "The dance to death : the aesthetic experience of dying." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/12237.
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This study explores the shared experience of one woman’s ovarian cancer, from diagnosis to death. The disease, known as the silent killer, is difficult to diagnose with the majority of women presenting with vague symptoms and advanced disease. It is difficult to treat, necessitating both aggressive chemotherapy and radical, eviscerating surgery. In 2011, around 7,100 new cases were diagnosed in the UK; in 2012 around 4,300 died from ovarian cancer. If diagnosed early, 90% of women survive for more than five years but only 5% survive if advanced disease is found on first presentation. The woman with ovarian cancer in this study was my partner. During her illness this research did not feature as such but we were both aware that there might be a sense of something unfinished after her death; she gave her full support for whatever I subsequently chose to do. In this thesis I explore and investigate our shared experience using documentary materials from the Illness Period, the eleven months from diagnosis to death. The thesis is in three parts, each with three chapters. In broad terms, Part One concerns the Form and Function of the study comprising the impetus for the research, its contextualisation in the literature and the approach to the inquiry. Part Two, The Dance to Death, describes the illness experience with recourse to the literature as appropriate. Part Three, The Aesthetic Experience of Dying, connects the narrative of the Illness Period from Part Two, with insights from German Idealism as embodied in Schiller’s Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man. These and many of Goethe’s writings were my late partner’s own area of doctoral study. They are used here to provide a means to further explore some aspects that emerged from the Illness Period. The research question addressed in this study is: What can be learnt from a shared experience of living with and through a life-limiting illness? Dance emerged early in the study as a metaphor for the movement of our bodies through that time. The dance appears in three ways: first as quotidian life between health care appointments and everything else, secondly as an element of the methodology in the dialogue between the narrative and the literature, and finally in binary synthesis. This is the resolution of the tension between two opposing concepts, for example living and dying, and is taken from German Idealism as a mode of inquiry to understand aesthetic experience. The Illness Period is described in some detail as an analytic narrative reconstructed from the data with reference to the literature at relevant points. The role of the partner-carer in maintaining the balance between the life of have been captured through a series of self-directed interviews using storyboards to guide the storytelling. These data were augmented through access to the hospital and primary health records which provided information to fill gaps and correct inaccuracies. Drawing on Heidegger, a connection is found to home, being at home, homelessness and homecoming that provides a natural resolution to the tension between living and dying. Aesthetic experience, with particular reference to the dying person, is defined as a feeling of serenity of mood, a vividness of presence and a heightened self awareness. Three contributory aspects to the emergence of aesthetic experiences are identified: 1) a sense of at-homeness and home as a sacred, peaceful place 2) the inner court of family and friends that provides a context for sociability 3) heightened sensory awareness experienced as moments of pleasure through taste, touch, smell, sound and sight This study traces a path through one woman’s experience of ovarian cancer, from diagnosis to death, using insights drawn from 18th century German Idealism as an understanding of the aesthetic. It is not a study of life and death but of living and dying with a spirit of well-being.
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Firth, Shirley. "Death, dying and bereavement in a British Hindu community." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1994. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/28921/.
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This thesis explores beliefs and practices concerning dying, death and bereavement in the Hindu community in Westmouth (a pseudonym), with the aim of furthering understanding of Hindu belief and practice, particularly for medical and social work professionals. The Hindu model of a good death may be difficult to facilitate in British hospitals if medical staff are unaware of Hindu needs and if communication is inadequate. Funerals are arranged by professionals rather than the family, and there are delays because of bureaucracy, post mortems or lack of space in the crematorium. Priests, when available, may not be accustomed to conducting funeral rituals, and have to work within constraints of time and place, with more of the funeral taking place in the home than would be the case in India. All this has caused major changes in the traditional patterns of death rituals and mourning. Despite these changes there is strong family and community support at times of crisis, reinforcing social bonds and religious and cultural traditions. Religious beliefs help to make sense of the experience. This thesis has three parts. Part I sets the context of the study, fieldwork and methodology, introducing the Hindu community in Britain and in Westmouth. Beliefs about death, the afterlife, and the good and bad death are discussed. Part II explores nine stages of Hindu death rituals, from before death to the annual sraddha, comparing scriptural sources with practice in India and Britain to elucidate areas of change and continuity. Part III examines issues of hospital deaths and bureaucracy, mourning, and psychological aspects of bereavement. Hindus cope with and adjust to loss most satisfactorily when they are empowered to follow their chosen practices, have adequate social support, and find religious meaning in their understanding of death. Finally the implications of this research for Hindus themselves and for professional health care workers in Britain are examined.
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Corker, Deborah Jo. "PHYSICIAN'S EXPERIENCES WITH DEATH AND DYING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY." OpenSIUC, 2010. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/212.
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This qualitative phenomenological study attempts to gain the physician's essences, meanings and understanding surrounding death and dying. Starting with themes revealed in literature, in-depth interviews were used to ask selected physicians providing care: How does death affect them? Are physicians receiving adequate training in end-of-life care? Does the medical culture still see death as failure? How do they find meaning in end-of-life care? Using three different groups of physicians: early in career, mid-career, and retired, this research attempted to examine the phenomena of death and dying over apparent time and developmental experiences of physicians. Results: Physicians have not been adequately trained to handle end-of-life care. Communications skills, specific end-of-life care training and support for physicians dealing with death and dying are needed.
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Morris, William L. "Dying well a Christian perspective /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2000. http://www.tren.com.
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Taylor, Roy W. "Equipping laypersons to confront issues of death, dying, and grief." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1990. http://www.tren.com.
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Bailey, Cara. "Developing emotional intelligence around death and dying in emergency work." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.503154.
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Defibaugh, Amy. "AN EXAMINATION OF THE DEATH AND DYING OF COMPANION ANIMALS." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2018. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/535810.
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ReligionPh.D.
“An Examination of the Death and Dying of Companion Animals” explores the human-animal relationship as enacted in the home by becoming interspecies families. In particular, these relationships are considered when companion animals are dying and in need of special care and attention. This work provides historical and cultural context for how humans attend to animals in death and dying through the history of pet keeping and a complex literature review to explore the intersections of death and dying and religion, and human-animal studies. Specifically, models for companion animal end-of-life care replicate those services for humans by providing palliative care and a myriad of other treatments to attend to the suffering of aging and terminal pets. In addition to examining the creation of companion animal hospice and how it has quickly grown since the early 2000s, this work also confronts questions of euthanasia as a burdensome decision-making process. The decision to euthanize a loved one is fraught with ambiguity, uncertainty, and, at times, guilt. These experiences are idiosyncratic and by creating a discourse and popular platform through which to share these instances of death and dying, this project contributes to the newly established death positivity movement in drawing attention to caring for dead bodies in the home. This project ends by exploring after-death-care for companion animals. Burial and cremation are still, for the most part, how human families dispose of companion animal bodies. In addition to these more traditional forms of disposition, companion humans are also starting to preserve their companion animal bodies through taxidermy and freeze-drying. Though still considered grotesque by many companion humans, companion animal body preservation is just one example of new and reimagined mourning rituals. It is through these rituals and the recognition of this particular grief that the human-animal relationship in the home is seen in a new, complicated, ambiguous and intimate light.
Temple University--Theses
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Feinstein, Carla Fran. "Dying to Know." PDXScholar, 2010. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1318.
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Braakman, Michelle Lynne. "Ideals and realities of death and dying in the twelfth century." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ62545.pdf.
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Atala, Sarah R. "How Hospice Nurses' Beliefs About Death and Dying Frame Their Caregiving." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1397755066.
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Combs, Dawn Michelle. "Cartesian Duality and Dissonance in the American Dying Experience." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu148044851093872.
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Chapman, Ysanne B. "The lived experience of nursing dying or dead people /." View thesis, 1994. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20030617.120150/index.html.
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Richards, Naomi. ""Readiness is all" : anticipating death in the U.K." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/4457.
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This thesis explores some of the different ways in which people anticipate their dying in the U.K. Through an ethnographic exploration of an arts initiative, a social movement, a legal case, and a new law, this thesis asks the question: how do people seek to gain recognition for their dying in the 21st Century? It is argued here that this recognition is deemed important because it is the last opportunity for people’s unique identity, as they perceive it, to be reflected back at them in the faces of those who witness their dying and who stand alongside them. This witnessing is often performed in public spaces, for example: a hospice day centre; in the media spotlight; at a right-to-die conference; or in a court of law, and it is in these places where people hope that their individualised dying self will be authenticated. This thesis focuses on what happens in these public spaces and asks whether recognition is always possible. It concludes by suggesting that there are some things which are perhaps too private, too particular, and too uncertain to be recognised or authenticated in the way in which people might wish. Section One of this thesis focuses on the activities of an arts charity which works in hospices in the U.K. and tries to elicit testimony from dying patients. Section Two focuses on the right-to-die movement: its history, politics, and the activists which bring it to life. Section Three focuses on the legal regulation of death through careful examination of a legal challenge and a new law which both involve people making anticipatory decisions about how they wish to die. As this thesis shows, people’s dying testimony can take many different forms (artistic, legal, bureaucratic), and it can be represented in terms of suffering or transcendence. But the overwhelming desire of the people who feature in this thesis is to have the particularity of their lives, which is mirrored in the particularity of their deaths, publicly recognised.
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Robinson, Daniel D. "Equipping the members of the Emma's Grove Baptist Church to prepare for dying and death." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1994. http://www.tren.com.
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Almostadi, Doaa A. "The Relationship between Death Depression and Death Anxiety among Cancer Patients in Saudi Arabia." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3947.
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Abstract
Cancer is one of the main public health problems in the world. People diagnosed with cancer may become depressed and fearful of dying. This causes them to question treatments and sometimes avoid treatment altogether. Cancer may change the person's life and the lives of others around them. The current study focused on the psychosocial impact of impending death for cancer patients in Saudi Arabia. Currently, the relationship between the death anxiety and death depression in persons with cancer in Saudi Arabia is not yet clear. Added to that, little research has been conducted with Muslim cancer patients and their emotional needs.
This study explored the relationship between death anxiety and death depression among cancer patients in Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 100 Saudi cancer patients, 50 male and 50 female, ranging in age from 18 to 85 with a mean age of 45.5. All participants completed a survey questionnaire that included three parts: the first part contained a demographic data form; the second part consisted of 20 statements to measure death anxiety using the Arabic Death Anxiety Scale; the third part was a 21-item, questionnaire designed to measure depression about impending death using the Death Depression scale-Revised Arabic version.
The results of this study revealed statistically significant correlation between death anxiety and death depression (r= .85, p
In addition, in Saudi Arabia health care providers target cancer symptoms and barely address the psychosocial issues. This may be due to a lack of communication between patients and health care providers. On the other hand, providers lack the time to spend with patients and have to treat to great number of patients.
Therefore, the results of this study suggest that the health care providers should spend some time with each patient discussing feelings with no boundaries, and try to understand the patients' feelings, and involve them in decision making
Death depression and death anxiety are universal feelings and should not be neglected. Consequently, this research may expand the knowledge base about death anxiety and death depression in Saudi Arabia that might lead to intervention that would help to improve patients' quality of life.
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Wainaina, Alexander Mark. "The Dignity of the Human Person in the Face of Competing Interests: Prudent Use of Resources in the End-of-Life Care." Thesis, Boston College, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:107481.
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Thesis advisor: Andrea ViciniThesis advisor: James Keenan
In this thesis, I am going to explore some of the significant legal and medical activities that have had a great influence on the healthcare delivery in the United States of America, focusing on the care of people that are severely sick or those whose death is imminent. Then I will discuss how the application of virtues, particularly the cardinal virtues, can inspire people not to neglect the needs of patients whenever some helpful procedures could be done, and also to enable people to desist from engaging in medical procedures that could be deemed futile. Patients and their caregivers can all benefit from cultivating virtue and hence create a way of life that respects the human dignity of patients and also uses the available resources prudently for the sake of the common good. Ultimately, I hope to suggest some theologically sound proposals that are helpful to a patient, the patient’s family and the rest of the country’s health system, with a particular focus on an ethical way of delivering healthcare services. I will show how the developments in the Western world can be applied to develop some protocols of healthcare delivery that could be helpful to Kenya. It is my belief that the universal applicability of virtues can ensure that healthcare activities uphold the human dignity of patients, provide respect for healthcare work, and also use a country’s limited resources prudently
Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2016
Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry
Discipline: Sacred Theology
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George, David S. "Ministry to the bereaved and dying." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) Access this title online, 2004. http://www.tren.com.
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Sullivan, Robert A. "Reign delay, preaching sermons to strengthen faith for people who fear death and dying." Chicago, Ill. : McCormick Theological Seminary, 2002. http://www.tren.com.
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Eichhorn, Eva Christina. "Terminal care as life care : a pastoral approach to death and dying." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/17748.
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Thesis (M. Th.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis introduces a spiritual understanding of terminal care as life care within a pastoral approach to death and dying. The presupposition is that life and death are unavoidably connected, and that a meaningful approach to death and dying in terms of a Christian theological hermeneutics needs to start with the question “What is life?” The concept of a theological hermeneutics serves as an overall paradigm, which is implied within the interplay of life and death. The aim of a hermeneutical approach is to find meaning in living and dying in the fundamental God-human relationship. The eschatological perspective plays a significant role, as it emphasises the already and not yet of eschatology that become evident in every life event. An analysis of the theoretical paradigms and philosophical presuppositions behind a widespread “psychology of death and dying” shows that the phenomenological, client-centred models suffer from an overreliance on inner human potentials in coping with dying. Although these models provide valuable insights into the needs of the dying, they fail to equip individuals with a meaningful paradigm that lasts despite the reality of death. As a result, I propose a “theology of death and dying” that opts for a much more holistic approach to terminal care. Based on the impact of a Christian spiritual concept of life and a pastoral anthropology on a pastoral approach to terminal care, I argue that we do not have to cope with dying by ourselves but can trust in the faithfulness of God who will keep us strong to the end (1 Cor 1:8). As fear of death can effectively only be coped with by caring for life, pastoral care to the dying needs to emphasise the fundamental God-human relationship that guarantees life in spite of death. A unique stance of hope follows from a Christian spiritual understanding of life that overcomes the paradigmatic gap left by psychological approaches to death and dying, and makes us aware that the new life in the Spirit is a quality that we already possess. Eventually, the life care approach is applied to a pastoral prevention strategy in the context of the HIV pandemic. I argue the thesis that prevailing HIV prevention programmes suffer from a lack of an overall frame of reference from which to reflect on the necessity for behavioural change. To fill this gap, a spiritual life care approach to the HIV pandemic emphasises the development of a Christian ethos based on an internalised assurance of the purpose and destiny of human life, which can function as an overall paradigm behind a prevention strategy. This pastoral prevention strategy is based on the assumption that positive change, the anticipation of a better future and true hope derive from an understanding of who we are as human beings before and in relationship with God.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis stel ʼn spirituele begrip van terminale sorg as lewensorg binne ʼn pastorale benadering tot dood en sterfte bekend. Die voorveronderstelling is dat lewe en dood onlosmaakbaar verbind is, en dat ʼn betekenisvolle benadering tot dood en sterfte in terme van ʼn Christelike teologiese hermeneutiek met die vraag “Wat is lewe?” ’n aanvang moet neem. Die konsep van teologiese hermeneutiek dien as 'n oorkoepelende paradigma, wat geïmpliseer word binne die wisselwerking van lewe en dood met die doelwit om betekenis te vind in lewe en dood in die fundamentele Godmens- verhouding. ’n Eskatologiese perspektief speel ’n beduidende rol, aangesien dit die alreeds en die nog nie van eskatologie beklemtoon, wat in elke lewensgebeurtenis duidelik word. ’n Ontleding van die teoretiese paradigmas en filosofiese voorveronderstellings rakende die wydverspreide “sielkunde van dood en sterfte” toon aan dat die fenomenologiese, kliëntgesentreerde modelle gebrek lei as gevolg van hul heftige aanspraak op die innerlike menslike potensiaal om sterfte te hanteer. Alhoewel hierdie modelle kosbare insigte ten opsigte van die behoeftes van die sterwendes bied, faal hulle daarin om individue toe te rus met ’n betekenisvolle paradigma wat volhoubaar is, afgesien van die werklikheid van die dood. Ek staan dus ’n “teologie van dood en sterfte” voor wat ’n veel meer holistiese benadering tot terminale sorg meebring. Gegrond op die impak van ’n Christelike, spirituele konsep van lewe en ’n pastorale antropologie op ’n pastorale benadering tot terminale sorg, argumenteer ek dat ons nie nodig het om die dood op ons eie te hanteer nie omdat ons op die getrouheid van God, wat ons sterk sal hou tot die einde (1 Kor 1:8), kan vertrou. Aangesien die vrees vir die dood slegs deur die omgee vir lewe hanteer kan word, is dit noodsaaklik dat pastorale sorg aan die sterwende die God-mens-verhouding, wat lewe te midde van dood waarborg, beklemtoon. ’n Unieke gesigspunt van hoop volg vanuit ’n Christelike, spirituele begrip van lewe, wat die paradigmatiese gaping wat gelaat word deur psigologiese benaderings tot dood en sterfte vul. Dit maak ons bewus dat die nuwe lewe in die Gees ’n kwaliteit is wat ons alreeds besit. Die lewensorg-benadering word uiteindelik in ’n pastorale voorkomingstrategie in die konteks van die MIV-pandemie toegepas. Ek argumenteer in die tesis dat heersende MIV-voorkomingsprogramme gestrem word deur ’n tekort aan ’n algehele verwysingsraamwerk, vanwaar oor die noodsaaklikheid van gedragsverandering nagedink kan word. Om hierdie gaping te vul, stel ek ’n spirituele lewensorg-benadering voor, wat die ontwikkeling van ’n Christelike etos beklemtoon, gegrond op ’n inwendige sekerheid van die doel en bestemming van menslike lewe, wat as ’n algehele paradigma vir ’n pastorale voorkomingstrategie kan funksioneer. Hierdie voorkomingstrategie is gegrond op die veronderstelling dat positiewe verandering, die verwagting van ’n beter toekoms, en ware hoop voortspruit uit ’n begrip van wie ons as mense voor en in verhouding met God is.
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Kawczak, Steven M. "Beliefs and Approaches to Death and Dying in Late Seventeenth-Century England." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1320179487.
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McGrath, Barbara Burns. "Making meaning of illness, dying and death in the Kingdom of Tonga /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/6572.
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Jenkins, William. "Caring to death: Reflections on the experience of ministry to the dying." Thesis, Jenkins, William (1997) Caring to death: Reflections on the experience of ministry to the dying. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 1997. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/50507/.
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This thesis set out to explore the experience of ministry to those who are dying. Using a phenomenological approach, it has done so by asking a group of ecumenical hospice chaplains to reflect on this experience by responding to a set of questions about their motivation for this ministry, the establishment and the nature of their relationships with patients, their feelings about their ministry, their self image, how they see themselves and how they believe that they are seen by others, their perceptions of humankind, and their theological understanding of what they are doing when they are caring for fellow human beings who are dying.
Various issues emerged through these reflections that were recurrent and/or particularly significant. These included mutuality in relationship, with the centrality of allowing the patient to ‘set the agenda’; the needs of the chaplain and these in relationship to their ministry to others; the importance of being able to establish trust as a crucial element in a developing relationship; the distinction between the person of the chaplain and the role of chaplain, and the issue of stereotypes; the radical life changing nature of this particular ministry; intimacy and the elements of identification and emotional involvement; the issue of the ‘professional’ and the ‘personal’, and perceived limitations to ministry; the positive view of themselves and a balanced view of the qualities of humankind; their image of God and the relation between this image and their understanding of their ministry to those who are dying; and ‘being with’ as a concept, particularly in relation to exploring an understanding of both caring and dying.
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Vincze, Michael J. "Dying to know: five studies on death and identity in Apuleius' Metamorphoses." Thesis, Boston University, 2012. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/12664.
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.Of the many metamorphoses in Apuleius' novel, death is a frequent yet under-studied form. On his journey to regain his human identity, Lucius faces many life-threatening experiences, which coincide with other characters' deaths, near-deaths, and apparent-deaths and help create the novel's dark atmosphere. Apuleius also presents metaphorical images of death, as I argue, when he characterizes the loss of identity, e.g., exile and slavery, as a death, a trope with precedent in Roman literature. This dissertation argues that the proliferation of death naturally derives from the novel's folkloric sources, which often address human mortality, and that Apuleius has harnessed this material and other depictions of death to present moments of identity deconstruction and recreation, moments that recall Apuleius' programmatic question quis ille ("Who is that?"). This dissertation comprises five independent yet related studies; the first three examine death and narrative, the latter two concern death and the romance. Study 1 argues thclt necromancy is a metaphor for the act of narrating and even reading the novel. Study 2 shifts to tales about the dead and argues that the bandit's narratives in book 4 serve as funeral oration that aims at commemorating false identities of the dead robbers. Study 3 then examines the paradox of preserving the memories of fictional characters, i.e., people who never existed, by exploring such instances in the Metamorphoses and other works of prose fiction and concludes that ancient fiction was used to critique and perhaps mock antiquity's obsession with postmortem commemoration. The second half focuses on Apuleius' use of death motifs popular in the Greek romances, texts that all begin with the protagonists experiencing a metaphoric death. While these deaths result in a rebirth at the end of the romances, the Metamorphoses presents Lucius as not wholly reborn. This is evident in Lucius' depiction as a death-doomed bride (study 4) and further supported by an examination of the symbolism of the rose in the Metamorphoses and the romances. This flower restores Lucius' human form, but also robs him of his human identity, prolonging his death-like existence even after his anamorphosis (study 5).
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Garchar, Kimberly Kay. "A dying community : a Roycean critique of the medical community at the end of life /." view abstract or download file of text, 2006. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1232405801&sid=3&Fmt=2&clientId=11238&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006.Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-179). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.
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Montoya-Medina, José E., Giordana Poletti-Jabbour, Nicole Urrunaga, and Heyson A. Jiménez. "Comment on: Tools Measuring Quality of Death, Dying, and Care, Completed After Death: Systematic Review of Psychometric Properties." Springer International Publishing, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10757/625045.
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Chapman, Ysanne B. "The lived experience of nursing dying or dead people." Thesis, View thesis, 1994. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/26159.
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This phenomenological study describes the experiences of twelve registered nurses who have nursed a dying or dead patient. These registered nurses come from a variety of backgrounds, not only personally, but also educationally and socially. The study primarily focuses on these registered nurses' most significant experience with death in a professional capacity. Twelve registered nurses were invited to share their stories by means of taped interviews and/or written narrative which attempted to discover the underlying meaning of their experiences. However, in relating their stories, many of the registered nurses wished to describe other death experiences which were of significance for them. The study is grounded in Heideggerian phenomenology and analysis of the transcripts revealed the emerging essences of connectedness, aloneness, questioning and accepting. The study further reveals that these essences align themselves to the four fundamental existentials of spatiality, corporeality, temporality and relationality as described by Merleau-Ponty (1962). Additionally, these essences are related back to the principles of Parse's (1987) theory of Human-Becoming and provide some insights for nursing practice when caring for the dying or the dead patient. Some discussion on how these insights may be related to contemporary nursing practice in Australia is highlighted. Each participant's transcript is followed by a poem which intends to capture the essence of their relationship with the situation(s) they have shared with the author.
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Jarl, Zandra. "The Threshold between Life and Death : An Examination of Near Death Experiences." Thesis, University of Skövde, School of Humanities and Informatics, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-3107.
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In studies on Near Death Experiences (NDE) data has been collected by using the recently developed scaling methods, the scale developed by Ring and the Greyson NDE Scale. In order to illustrate the problems in the empirical study of NDEs, my intention is to compare the Greyson NDE-scale with the most common theories on NDEs. After series of modifications the final scale consisted of a questionnaire consisting of sixteen different questions, that yielded into four different areas, Cognitive components, Emotional components, Paranormal components, and Transcendental components.
In the end the theory that has the most likely possibility to explain NDEs in the future must be the Dying Brain theory, but one should not disclose the different features of the Afterlife theory (but without the origin explanation).
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Lark, Elise. "Making Space for Dying: Portraits of Living with Dying." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1413217166.
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Rudolf, Gabriel. "Ways of Dying : The depiction of Life and Death in Zakes Mda's novel." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk och litteratur, SOL, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-10277.
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Abstract This bachelor’s essay focuses on the depictions of life and death in the novel Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda. It claims that the novel is mainly focusing on a concept of life although it is set in a time in South Africa which is filled with death. The theory being used in the essay is mainly the postcolonial theory by Elleke Boehmer regarding terror since her definitions of terror corresponds very well to what is written in the novel. To add to this postcolonial theorist the essay has a feature of the structuralist binaries to enhance the focus upon the dichotomies of Life and Death. The essay discusses the situation of violence in transitional South Africa as described by the novel and focuses mainly on violence and politics to investigate the depictions of death. The representations of life in the novel are mainly shown through the magical realism, the story telling and the funerals which are visited by the main character Toloki. The essay explains that the novel is mainly focused on the binary opposite of life because of among other things the ending and the depictions of the funerals.