title: End-of-life dreams and visions: a longitudinal study of hospice patients' experiences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  End-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) have been well documented throughout history and across cultures. The impact of pre-death experiences on dying individuals and their loved ones can be profoundly meaningful.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to quantify the frequency of dreams/visions experienced by patients nearing the end of life, examine the content and subjective significance of the dreams/visions, and explore the relationship of these factors to time/proximity to death.
  
  
  METHODS
  This mixed-methods study surveyed patients in a hospice inpatient unit using a semi-structured interview. Sixty-six patients admitted to a hospice inpatient unit between January 2011 and July 2012 provided informed consent and participated in the study. The semi-structured interviews contained closed and open-ended questions regarding the content, frequency, and comfort/distress of dreams/visions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-nine participants comprised the final sample. Most participants reported experiencing at least one dream/vision. Almost half of the dreams/visions occurred while asleep, and nearly all patients indicated that they felt real. The most common dreams/visions included deceased friends/relatives and living friends/relatives. Dreams/visions featuring the deceased (friends, relatives, and animals/pets) were significantly more comforting than those of the living, living and deceased combined, and other people and experiences. As participants approached death, comforting dreams/visions of the deceased became more prevalent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ELDVs are commonly experienced phenomena during the dying process, characterized by a consistent sense of realism and marked emotional significance. These dreams/visions may be a profound source of potential meaning and comfort for the dying, and therefore warrant clinical attention and further research.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Hospice & Palliative Care , Cheektowaga, New York.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Scott T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kuszczak
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banas
authors.forename: Pei C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Debra L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Luczkiewicz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006738:Hospices; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*