Planning and providing for a good death using rural French-Canadian and English-Canadian insights

Rev Neurosci. 2009;20(3-4):313-9. doi: 10.1515/revneuro.2009.20.3-4.313.

Abstract

Little is known about what constitutes a good death, although palliative care is broadly aimed at enabling the good death. Good deaths could vary considerably across populations. A two-stage ethnographic study was conducted in rural Canada, involving English-speaking Albertans and French-Canadians in Quebec, to establish a conceptual understanding of the good death from a rural perspective. This study identified four common bicultural elements, as well as a conceptual model focusing on quality of life through four dimensions: physical, spiritual, social, and emotional/psychological. Rurality was identified as a dominant consideration for further study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude to Death / ethnology*
  • Canada / epidemiology
  • Canada / ethnology
  • Health Planning*
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological