Values underlying end-of-life decisions: a qualitative approach

Health Soc Work. 2001 Aug;26(3):150-9. doi: 10.1093/hsw/26.3.150.

Abstract

The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to reveal the values that would receive priority attention when considering end-of-life decisions. Nineteen elderly Israelis and their 28 family members participated in individual interviews that were analyzed using a hermeneutic phenomenological method. Analysis of the transcripts indicated that participants considered a unique set of value priorities that raised different considerations in each off our domains of life: physical-biological, social-psychological, familial, and societal. Three transcendent values crossed all four life domains: dignity, quality of life, and quality of death. These value considerations are useful information for social workers who consult patients and family members at times of end-of-life decisions.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Attitude to Death*
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Decision Making*
  • Euthanasia, Active / psychology
  • Euthanasia, Passive / psychology
  • Family Relations
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Israel
  • Male
  • Quality of Life / psychology
  • Social Values*
  • Suicide, Assisted / psychology
  • Terminal Care / psychology*
  • Value of Life
  • Withholding Treatment