"Hun forsvinder ikke": et kvalitativ studie af døende patienters og pårørendes overvejelser om en fortsat relation efter døden

Research shows that relationships with other people constitute a significant source of me- aning in life, both among people in general as well as among palliative patients. In this study we explored how dying patients in a hospice and their next of kin construct stories about their continuing relationships after death. Through a narrative-inspired analysis of interviews and informal conversations held during field observation it is demonstrated that the participants’ stories encompass two categories of ongoing contact: “meeting places” and “ways to meet”. Regardless of their existential or spiritual orientation, the participants constructed stories about their relationships in which the dying patient did not disappear with death. It thus seems that an ongoing relationship – in a secular or spiritual way – can be maintained. These stories contributed to create new meaning in the relationship between patients and relatives, in their lives and perhaps after death.