Ways of 'Being With': Caring for Dying Patients at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Issue 1 (1st March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Driessen, Annelieke; Borgstrom, Erica; Cohn, Simon
• Is Part Of: Anthropology in action. Volume 28:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 16
• Page End: 20
• Publication Date: 2021-03-01
• Subjects: communication -- COVID-19 -- end of life -- intimacy -- palliative care; Applied anthropology -- Periodicals; Anthropology -- Periodicals; 306
• DOI: 10.3167/aia.2021.280103
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-2285

Abstract

Abstract: Palliative care professionals often speak of the importance of forming meaningful relationships with patients and their families. Trust and rapport, usually established over extended periods of time through face-to-face interactions, and a 'gentle honesty' regarding end-of-life and death are key aspects of developing a sense of intimacy with people who are approaching the end of their lives. A fundamental feature of this intimacy is conveying a sense of 'being with' a patient. However, these ways of working were greatly challenged by the impact of COVID-19. This article explores how intimacy both was and was not established at the height of the pandemic, and it describes the extent to which shared concerns functioned as a new means to create a sense of a common experience.