The contemporary relevance of Glaser and Strauss

Abstract

The Hospital Personnel, Nursing Care and Dying Patients study, undertaken in California in the mid 1960s, generated a body of work that continues to be influential in end of life care research. Key points from the study are summarised, as are contributions from researchers who have responded to Glaser and Strauss invitation to examine further settings and, in so doing, provide data that helps refine their theory. The example of people with heart failure in the contemporary UK is considered. Changes since the 1960s in the epidemiology of chronic illness, the pattern of service provision and in social and professional attitudes have reduced the contemporary relevance of Glaser and Strauss's insights into the ceremonial and temporal order of the clinic. However their findings about awareness contexts and a reluctance to discuss prognosis remain highly relevant.