Diversity at the End of Life: Encountering the "Other" as Death Approaches in the Geriatric Context
In a social context where, on one hand, medical advances are valued for giving access to an increasingly long life and, on the other hand, dying with dignity is a right for all persons at the end of life, how do family members and caregivers explain the differences in their points of view when it comes to recognizing the approach of death and choosing the appropriate care? Based on an ethnographic study conducted in Quebec in two geriatric institutions, this article aims to document the way in which family members and caregivers negotiate what is right and what is wrong in a perspective of end-of-life care for older adults where the stakes become eminently moral. We question the power relationships and the representations of the “Other” that have an influence when it comes to establishing not only whether end-of-life care is appropriate, but also when it becomes so.