title: The "moment of death".
abstract: The "moment of death," once a dominant concept in preparing for a "good death", has been eclipsed by a focus on the wider concept of the "dying trajectory". However, findings from interviews with 25 bereaved individuals suggest that dying loved ones' final moments may still be experienced as highly significant in their own right. In some accounts the dying individual's final moments did not feature or made little impression, either because the survivor was not present, or there was no obviously definable moment, or because other, usually medical factors, such as whether to resuscitate the person, took precedence. However, in six cases such moments were constructed as profound, special, and memorable occasions. These constructions are explored in relation to achieving a good death, the dying trajectory as a whole, and making sense of the bereavement experience. Their implications for sociological theories of identity and embodiment are also considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Socail and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, United Kingdom, UK. C.A.Valentine@bath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valentine
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*