Fins de vie et souffrances psychiques en EHPAD

Abstract

The issues of end-of-life conditions, particularly in nursing homes, are currently at the heart of a societal, legal, political and caregiver debate. These questions highlight the concepts of dignity, of temporality between the lengthy period of dying in geriatric care, which is experienced as an unbearable societal agony, and the will to live of Alzheimer's patients. However, dealing with the end of life, we are necessarily committed to the ethical values of solicitude, listening and knowing how to comfort our very old and polypathological patients who are nearing death. In this study, we will examine the notions of psychic suffering, of the wish to die, of sliding towards death, and the long dying process based on a corpus of patient and caregiver testimonials which are at the heart of a moral code that transitions from stupefaction to consideration.