title: Connectedness at the End of Life Among People Admitted to Inpatient Palliative Care.
abstract: The significance of connectedness for well-being is well known. At the end of life however, illness and body decline may challenge a person's ability of staying and feeling connected. The aim of this phenomenological study was to interpret meanings of connectedness, through narrative interviews with persons admitted to inpatient palliative care in Sweden. Results involving connectedness through the body, connectedness to, and uncanniness toward other patients, and connectedness to significant others and society are discussed. The study underscores the importance of connectedness until death. However, in inpatient palliative care this is complex. Patients can co-create or challenge each other's sense of connectedness through the symbolism of illness and diseased bodies. Moreover, the capability of connectedness is influenced by illness, spatiality, atmosphere, activities, and resources in the care place.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College and Ersta Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Neurobiology, Care Science and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden cecilia.hakanson@esh.se.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Håkanson
authors.affiliation: Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College and Ersta Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, and University of Gothenburg Centre for Person-Centred Care, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Joakim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Öhlén
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D013548:Sweden; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: body decline; connectedness; dying; palliative care; phenomenology; virtual reality; well-being