IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v20y2023i1d10.1007_s10433-023-00749-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social relations and exclusion among people facing death

Author

Listed:
  • Marjaana Seppänen

    (University of Helsinki)

  • Mia Niemi

    (University of Helsinki)

  • Sofia Sarivaara

    (University of Helsinki)

Abstract

In line with current policies and service developments related to palliative care, more people are dying at home. This situation has provoked discussions about the importance of non-medical issues related to death. The process of dying is often long, with many phases, and the social aspect is a major part of it. Our focus in this article is on dying as a social process. Social relationships are significant and play a meaningful role in enhancing the well-being of older adults approaching the end of life. Meaningful social relationships tend to change over time; however, and the process of dying may exacerbate such changes in and challenge these relationships. The aim of our study was to examine how social relationships are experienced and (re)constructed among older adults (70–83 years old) during the process of dying, in a Finnish context. We were interested in the nature and type of these relationships, and in the possible new forms of expression that may emerge during this process. Our empirical data were based on interviews with seven older adults who were close to death. The analysis revealed processes of exclusion from existing relations. At the same time, we observed new and unexpected relations being initiated, which sometimes became meaningful and supportive. The results highlighted the role of expectations and importance of analysing exclusion from a life-course perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Marjaana Seppänen & Mia Niemi & Sofia Sarivaara, 2023. "Social relations and exclusion among people facing death," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:20:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-023-00749-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-023-00749-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-023-00749-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-023-00749-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kellehear, Allan, 2008. "Dying as a social relationship: A sociological review of debates on the determination of death," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(7), pages 1533-1544, April.
    2. Jenny de Jong Gierveld & Marjolein Broese van Groenou & Adriaan W. Hoogendoorn & Johannes H. Smit, 2009. "Quality of Marriages in Later Life and Emotional and Social Loneliness," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(4), pages 497-506.
    3. Porter, Bryony & Zile, Amy & Peryer, Guy & Farquhar, Morag & Sanderson, Kristy, 2021. "The impact of providing end-of-life care during a pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of health and social care staff: Systematic review and meta-synthesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    4. Glenys Caswell & Mórna O'Connor, 2015. "Agency in the context of social death: dying alone at home," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 249-261, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jenny Gierveld & Pearl A. Dykstra & Niels Schenk, 2012. "Living arrangements, intergenerational support types and older adult loneliness in Eastern and Western Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 27(7), pages 167-200.
    2. Pnina Dolberg & Sharon Shiovitz-Ezra & Liat Ayalon, 2016. "Migration and changes in loneliness over a 4-year period: the case of older former Soviet Union immigrants in Israel," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 287-297, December.
    3. Hiromi Taniguchi & Gayle Kaufman, 2022. "Family, Collectivism, and Loneliness from a Cross-Country Perspective," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1555-1581, June.
    4. Ana Patrícia Hilário & Fábio Rafael Augusto, 2022. "Pathways for a ‘Good Death’: Understanding End-of-Life Practices Through An Ethnographic Study in Two Portuguese Palliative Care Units," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(2), pages 219-235, June.
    5. Aparna Shankar & Tara Kidd, 2022. "Loneliness in Older Indian Dyads," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    6. Teggi, Diana, 2018. "Unexpected death in ill old age: An analysis of disadvantaged dying in the English old population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 112-120.
    7. Omer Canpolat & Hatice Yaprak Civelek, 2022. "Context of Mourning During the Pandemic: Spaces, Rituals, Outgoings, and Survivors," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 65(65), pages 81-104, June.
    8. Emiko Takagi & Yasuhiko Saito & Angelique Chan, 2020. "Gender differences in the association between social relationships and loneliness among older adults in Singapore," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 243-263, September.
    9. Marcus Mund & Matthew D. Johnson, 2021. "Lonely Me, Lonely You: Loneliness and the Longitudinal Course of Relationship Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 575-597, February.
    10. SangNam Ahn & Seonghoon Kim & Hongmei Zhang, 2016. "Changes in Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: Role of Positive and Negative Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Yang, Fang & Gu, Danan, 2021. "Widowhood, widowhood duration, and loneliness among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    12. Ewa Kupcewicz & Marzena Mikla & Helena Kadučáková & Elżbieta Grochans, 2022. "Loneliness and Satisfaction with Life among Nursing Students in Poland, Spain and Slovakia during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-16, March.
    13. Aita, Kaoruko & Kai, Ichiro, 2010. "Physicians' psychosocial barriers to different modes of withdrawal of life support in critical care: A qualitative study in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 616-622, February.
    14. Vanessa Burholt & Bethan Winter & Marja Aartsen & Costas Constantinou & Lena Dahlberg & Villar Feliciano & Jenny Jong Gierveld & Sofie Regenmortel & Charles Waldegrave, 2020. "A critical review and development of a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations for older people," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 3-19, March.
    15. Barjaková, Martina & Garnero, Andrea & d’Hombres, Béatrice, 2023. "Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    16. van Beinum, Amanda & Hornby, Laura & Scales, Nathan & Shemie, Sam D. & Dhanani, Sonny, 2022. "Autoresuscitation and clinical authority in death determination using circulatory criteria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    17. Thijs van den Broek & Marco Tosi, 2020. "The More the Merrier? The Causal Effect of High Fertility on Later-Life Loneliness in Eastern Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 733-748, June.
    18. Guo Yu (Samuel) Soon & Khoon Kiat Tan & Wenru Wang & Violeta Lopez, 2015. "Back to the beginning: Perceptions of older Singaporean couples living alone," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 402-407, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:20:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-023-00749-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.