“But my mom still blinks when I talk to her.” Understanding the concept of social death to avoid bias and improve goals‐of‐care discussions at the end of life

Editorial for the 2023 philosophy thematic edition: Treating the whole person: Philosophical health

“…25 Joelle Robertson-Preidler and Holland Kaplan note that clinicians and families often disagree on goals of care for incapacitated, minimally interactive patients near the end of life. 26 They advocate the application of the concept of 'social death' to help clinicians avoid bias and improve goals-of-care discussions at the end of life, explaining and defending a personcentred approach including values elucidation and philosophical counselling, to help families think through what their loved one finds important and meaningful.…”