title: Inside the mind of a relative  at the end of life.
abstract: Health professionals often encounter relatives who have different wishes to those of the dying patient. There are relatives who perceive themselves as the appointed mouthpiece for the dying patient, answering questions intended for the patient, while others request that professionals do not break any bad news to the patient. However, if we are going to follow closely the ideology of palliative care, where we care for both the patient and their relatives' needs, it is important that we try to understand the reasons relatives may act in this way.
authors.affiliation: University of Worcester. b.nyatanga@worc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nyatanga
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*