Decriminalising an Expected Death in the Home: A Social Work Response

The End of Life Within Social Work Literature: A Conceptual Review

“…The end of life was also defined as when one has begun to prepare or journey toward death” (Kane, Hamlin, & Hawkins, 2005; Kehl, Kirchhoff, & Hovland-Scafe, 2010; Rose & Shelton, 2006; Sanders, Bullock, & Broussard, 2012; Taylor-Brown & Sormanti, 2004). Waldrop (2007) defines the end of life as a “downhill trajectory,” whereas Agllias (2011) speaks to “impending death” and Munn and Zimmerman (2006) refer to a “predictable death trajectory.” A distinction of this category from others is that the end of life was defined by a progression of events, as opposed to an objective qualities (Hughes, 2013; Nelson-Becker, 2013; Nelson-Becker et al., 2015; Werner, Carmel, & Ziedenberg, 2004).…”

“…In such cases, assessments were made by professional caregivers (e.g., physicians, nurses; n = 6) or informal caregivers (e.g., spouse, adult children; n = 3). For informal caregivers, three studies focused on participants whom had experienced the death of a family member, companion, or friend (Hughes, 2013; Luptak, 2006; Munn & Zimmerman, 2006). Another study queried caregivers of older adults at the end of life (Hiyoshi-Taniguchi et al., 2013).…”

The Meaning of Care

“…Living with dementia at home and, ultimately, dying at home requires support for people's partners and families in the process (Hughes, 2013). The main challenge for care in relation to both dementia and the end of life is to 'uphold their personhood whatever the degree of dependence, and facilitating them and their carers in making and operationalizing choices throughout this final phase of life' (Holloway, 2009: 721).…”