Hospice - the ideology and perspectives in Estonia.
BACKGROUND
Death and dying tend to be taboo for much of humankind. Themes about death and life ending have not been popular in Estonia because of its cultural traditions and history.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the attitudes of Estonian professionals towards death and dying and to describe some future visions of hospice service in Estonia.


METHODS
The theoretical view in this work comes from hospice conception and empirical data gained from structured interviews with professionals who are connected with dying people in their everyday work.


RESULTS
Some ideas of the hospice conception (e.g. pain control and psychosocial support) are used in hospitals and general care centres in Estonia, but there is little respect towards dying people and their needs. The idea of interdisciplinary teamwork is not in use.
Kiik
R
R
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Chair of Social Policy, Tartu, Estonia. riina.kiik@ut.ee
Sirotkina
R
R
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002977:Clergy / Q000523:psychology; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004957:Estonia; D005544:Forecasting; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000523:psychology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D011586:Psychology, Clinical; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D012947:Social Work; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires