Existential Transition Research Articles

Navigating the transition into higher degree research: an exploration of candidates’ experiences

Higher-degree research (HDR) students often struggle with the transition into independent research, the juncture in which students accustomed to the structure and predictability of coursework suddenly become project managers: narrowing research questions to address a meaningful gap in the literature, designing projects that adhere to ethical mandates, and using existing literature to not only report on a topic, but also justify it. This qualitative study examines candidates’ transition into independent research through both interview and questionnaire data. Participants studying in an Australian university most often cited difficulties related to the research process, followed by mental health, writing with scholarly expression, and self-management. The findings suggest candidates entering an HDR program require support beyond traditional ‘one-off’ workshops or interventions. Specifically, they benefit from individualised and dedicated mentoring support that addresses not only their epistemological knowledge gaps, but also their existential transition from students to researchers.

Living With Cardiovascular Disease: Existential Meaning of Lifestyle Change.

This study aims at exploring the perspectives of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) on the existential meaning of lifestyle change as an evidence base for spiritual care by nurses and other health professionals. This study has been carried out within the paradigm of phenomenological caring sciences. The sample of 18 participants was purposively selected. Data consisted of in-depth interviews among adults with an episode of CVD. Data analysis of transcribed audio recordings was done using the method of Reflective Lifeworld Approach. For patients with CVD, changing one's lifestyle is an experience of transition in self-image. This transition has a twofold dynamic. On the one hand, it entails alternating phases in what is meaningful for the patient: letting go (loss of the normal, of health, of bodily functions) and holding on (desire to be healthy and to be normal). On the other hand, through the vulnerability and loneliness patients often experience, patients report a need to be encouraged by and connected to others/the Other. Making brave choices and connecting to the patients' spiritual resources of inner strength are crucial for successful lifestyle changes and meaningful transition to a new lifestyle. Lifestyle change is not only a physical and psychological process for the patient with CVD but also an existential transition that involves fundamental views and values of being human. It is an experience that is in part socially influenced, that is, by encouragement from meaningful others. For the health care worker, knowledge of this experience may help provide spiritual care after CVD.

Perineal trauma as an existential change: a qualitative study with women experiencing humanized birth

Objective: To investigate how women experienced perineal trauma during a humanized birth. Methods: A qualitative study with 22 postpartum women was performed from January to December 2018. The Husserlian phenomenology was used as theoretical framework using individual, in-depth interviews that were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Results: Twenty-four categories emerged from women´s reports. During the prenatal phase, we found lack of information regarding perineal trauma, the alterity as a facilitating process to incentive women towards vaginal delivery and the perception of the beginning of an existential transition. During labor, it was noticed trust and attachment with the health professional giving physical and emotional support, the fear of the unknown linking to insecurity, the need for internal surrender to the process, empowerment as a result of trust and commitment, to give herself to the moment and no concerns with intrapartum injury but at the same time, having the possibility to share a decision-making process of suturing(or not). The postpartum period has shown the completion of the existential transition, the body as a place of estrangement, the loosening of some ties, but the construction of new networks of personal support to overcome postpartum. Conclusions: Most of women after humanized birth perceived perineal trauma as an existential transition that was initiated during antenatal period.

Existential vulnerability and transition: Struggling with involuntary childlessness on Instagram

Abstract In their efforts to find others who share their experiential reality and existential struggle, many involuntarily childless women turn to Instagram to engage and participate in the practice of trying-to-conceive (TTC) communication. Through the conceptual lens of digital existence, where the digital and online are regarded as constitutive of existential transition, we draw on ten interviews and an online ethnography to explore some of the struggles that involuntarily childless women experience with and through technology. We find that TTC communication can be constitutive of coming to terms with the status of involuntary childlessness. In particular, this study illustrates that TTC communication, for involuntarily childless women, is both a site of struggle and a safe space as they transition to nonmotherhood in an existential terrain where they share an intimate journey.

Sentimentos vivenciados pela mulher durante o puerpério

Introdução: O puerpério se refere ao período que se inicia logo após o parto, definido por diversas transformações, além de físicas, psíquicas, constituindo como um momento de fragilidade, influenciando na transição existencial e na relação mãe-filho. Durante esse período as mulheres necessitam de atenção especial dos serviços de saúde, demandando dos profissionais um olhar atento e comprometido principalmente aos aspectos subjetivos. Objetivo: Compreender os sentimentos vivenciados pela mulher durante o puerpério. Métodos: Estudo qualitativo, não experimental, exploratório descritivo transversal realizado através entrevista semiestruturada gravada as mulheres puérperas presentes em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde de Santo Antônio do Aracanguá-SP. Resultados: Participaram do estudo 10 mulheres no período do puerpério, com idade média de 28 anos, as quais em sua maior parte eram primíparas e estavam no período tardio do puerpério durante a realização das entrevistas. Os discursos revelam diversos sentimentos positivos sobre a vivência do puerpério e a experiência de cuidar do seu filho. Conclusão: A partir da percepção das mulheres entrevistadas, o puerpério apresenta como um período de transições e novos desafios, foi possível compreender seus sentimentos, realizações, dificuldades e as mudanças ocorridas.

This is the real “death-line” AND I am still alive: A collaborative reflexivity about life trajectories

In this article, we, Olga Lehmann, Mixo Hansen and Helena Hurme, engage in a process of collaborative reflexivity upon living, aging, and dying as we attempt to make sense of the illnesses of the last author. The companionship that emerged between us in the plurality of our identities as friends, colleagues, coauthors, and women, encouraged us to revisit aspects of the theories in developmental-cultural psychology such as (a) the process of meaning-making, (b) the equifinality model in relation to aging and dying, and (c) the notion of personal life philosophies in relation to virtues. Based on our personal experiences as well as our collaborative reflexivity as scholars, we highlight that developmental-cultural psychology could more explicitly address existential transitions, such as dying and existential givens, such as uncertainty in its theories. We present as well some preliminary integrations between existential and cultural perspectives of meaning-making.

Living through Loss: Questions and Answers about Grief and Bereavement

The field of grief therapy is rapidly evolving, as new theories, models and research findings inspire new understandings of loss and how people accommodate it. This article summarizes some of these contemporary developments, emphasizing the search for meaning in bereavement, and illustrates how these fresh perspectives can offer guidance to real people seeking consultation on how to manage very real losses under complicating circumstances. Nurses occupy many roles that bring them into contact with death and grief, leaving them well positioned to extend knowledgeable and compassionate care for patients and families facing such existential transitions

Purposeful SDM: A problem-based approach to caring for patients with shared decision making

ObjectivePatient involvement focused the growth of Shared Decision Making (SDM) in contemporary healthcare practice, research, and education. Whilst important, securing appropriate patient involvement or equipping patients to choose is not necessarily the principal purpose of SDM. The purpose of SDM like all medical decision making is to act well in response to a patient’s problem, broadly conceived. In which situations and how SDM addresses patient problems is unclear. We seek to develop a purposeful approach to SDM that is oriented to the kinds of problems that SDM might help resolve. MethodsThrough vignettes of the experience of a patient, Rachel we demonstrate different kinds of situations in which Rachel, her family, and clinicians need to make decisions together. ResultsDifferent methods of SDM are needed in situations of:•Uncertain harms and benefits.•Intra or interpersonal conflict.•Intellectual, practical, and emotional incoherence.•Existential transition. ConclusionSDM may be understood as a range of methods that vary substantially with patients’ situations and the purpose that they pursue. Practice ImplicationsClinicians struggle to adopt SDM when they do not see it as relevant to clinical work. Orienting SDM to the problems that patients and clinicians routinely face may further SDM adoption, education, and research.

Being in a standstill‐of‐life: women's experience of being diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus: a hermeneutic‐phenomenological study

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a highly unpredictable and potentially lethal disease which ultimately challenges identity, future and the meaning of life. In a caring context, the experience of good health is perceived to be a balance between biomedical health and the existential experience of having a good life. This balance is jeopardised in the face of severe chronic illness and leads to extensive suffering if not handled carefully. Research suggests that patients suffering from severe chronic illness need support on an existential level, but also emphasises that, given its elusive nature, caring for the existential dimension is difficult to manage. This paper explores the experience of being diagnosed with SLE as an existential phenomenon. Through repeated phenomenological and hermeneutic interviews with 15 women conducted from 2013 to 2015, data concerning the diagnostic phase of SLE were analysed using Van Manen's phenomenology of practice. The essence was found to be a standstill in life comprehended through three inter-related themes: standing in a swirl of events, standing on uneven ground and standing at a turning point with oneself and others. The paper elucidates how existential life phenomena are lived, during the course of being diagnosed. In conclusion, it provides an ethical awareness of how a standstill in life is lived and of the patients' existential transition during the diagnostic phase. A holistic approach is recommended in caring for patients with SLE.

Experiences of non-specialist nurses caring for patients and their significant others undergoing transitions during palliative end-of-life cancer care: a systematic review.

Non-specialist nurses, who are providing palliative end-of-life cancer care to patients and significant others undergoing psychosocial and existential transitions, may experience dissatisfaction, frustration and sorrow. On the other hand, they may also experience happiness, increased knowledge and personal growth. What are non-specialist nurses' experiences when providing palliative end-of-life cancer care that involves the psychosocial and existential transitions of their patients and significant others? The current review considered studies that included a description of the experiences of non-specialist trained registered nurses (RNs) working in non-specialist wards. The current review considered studies that investigated experiences of RNs when providing palliative end-of-life cancer care that involves the psychosocial and existential transitions of their patients and significant others. The contact and care for patients and their significant others during palliative end-of-life cancer care. The current review considered studies that focused on qualitative data including, but not limited to, designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research and feminist research. The search aimed at finding both published and unpublished studies in English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and German, and was unrestricted by time. Eleven electronic databases and seven websites were searched. Methodological validity of the qualitative papers was assessed independently by two reviewers using the standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-QARI). Data were extracted from papers included in the review using the standardized data extraction tool from the JBI-QARI. Qualitative research findings were synthesized using the JBI-QARI. A total of 81 findings were extracted from the three studies and allocated to five categories and merged into a meta-synthesis with the overarching synthesized finding related to the challenges that non-specialist nurses faced when providing palliative end-of-life cancer care. The summary of findings is illustrated below. The studies in this review provided useful and credible statements from non-specialist nurses working in non-specialist wards about their challenges when providing palliative end-of-life cancer care to patients and their significant others undergoing psychosocial and existential transitions.

The Recovery Process When Participating in Cancer Support and Rehabilitation Programs in Sweden

The aim was to illuminate the meaning of participating in support and rehabilitation programs described by people diagnosed with cancer. Nineteen persons were interviewed in focus groups and face-to-face. Data were analyzed with a qualitative phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching lived experiences. Interpretation proceeded through three phases: naïve reading, structural analysis, and comprehensive understanding. Three themes were disclosed: receiving support for recovery when being most vulnerable, recapturing capabilities through supportive activities, and searching to find stability and well-being in a changed life situation. Participating in the programs was an existential transition from living in an unpredictable situation that was turned into something meaningful. Recovery did not mean the return to a state of normality; rather, it meant a continuing recovery from cancer treatments and symptoms involving recapturing capabilities and searching for a balance in a forever changed life. This study provides new insights about the experiences of participating in cancer support and rehabilitation programs.

Die Polen angesichts der Umbrüche im politischen und gesellschaftlichen Bereich. Ein Vierteljahrhundert nach der Unabhängigkeit Polens

Financial, political, ideological, sociological, cultural and existential transitions in Poland are experienced as a far more complex process than what it seemed in the beginning. The challenges Poles are facing in a new, democratic society, in some ways, are more demanding than those in a socialist one. In this article, the author presents sociological data, gathered by the Public Opinion Research Centre in Poland, showing the public opinion about the change in the system since 1989. The evaluation of the social consequences of transformation is not unequivocal. 37 % believe that the post-1989 changes brought more benefits than losses to the people. On the negative side, Poles note the increase in individualism and weakening of interpersonal ties. Negative public sentiment grew in Poland especially after 2009, five years after Polish accession to the European Union when the average salary of Poles accounted for about 25-30% of earnings in Western Europe, many people could not find employment in Poland and so they had to migrate to Western Europe.

Experiences of non-specialist nurses with patients and their significant others undergoing transitions during palliative end-of-life care: a systematic review protocol

REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVE What are non-specialist nurses’ experiences when providing palliative end-of-life care that involves the psychosocial and existential transitions of their patients and significant others? INCLUSION CRITERIA Types of participants This review will consider studies that include a description of the experiences of non-specialist trained Registered Nurses working on non-specialist wards. Phenomena of interest This review will consider studies that investigate experiences of Registered Nurses when providing palliative end-of life-care that involves the psychosocial and existential transitions of their patients and significant others. Context The contact and care for patients during palliative end-of-life cancer care and their significant others.

TU‐C‐18C‐01: Medical Physics 1.0 to 2.0: Introduction and Panel Discussion

Medical Physics 2.0, a new frontier in clinical imaging physics: Diagnostic imaging has always been a technological highlight of modern medicine. Imaging systems, with their ever‐expanding advancement in terms of technology and application, increasingly require skilled expertise to understand the delicacy of their operation, monitor their performance, design their effective use, and ensure their overall quality and safety, scientifically and in quantitative terms. Physicists can play a crucial role in that process. But that role has largely remained a severely untapped resource. Many imaging centers fail to appreciate this potential, with medical physics groups either nonexistent or highly understaffed and their services poorly integrated into the patient care process. As a field, we have yet to define and enact how the clinical physicist can engage as an active, effective, and integral member of the clinical team, and how the services that she/he provides can be financially accounted for. Physicists do and will always contribute to research and development. However, their indispensible contribution to clinical imaging operations is something that has not been adequately established. That, in conjunction with new realities of healthcare practice, indicates a growing need to establish an updated approach to clinical medical imaging physics. This presentation aims to describe a vision as how clinical imaging physics can expand beyond traditional insular models of inspection and acceptance testing, oriented toward compliance, towards team‐based models of operational engagement addressing topics such as new non‐classical challenges of new technologies, quantitative imaging, and operational optimization. The Medical Physics 2.0 paradigm extends clinical medical physics from isolated characterization of inherent properties of the equipment to effective use of the equipment and to retrospective evaluation of clinical performance. This is an existential transition of the field that speaks to the new paradigms of value‐based and evidence‐based medicine, comparative effectiveness, and meaningful use. The panel discussion that follows includes prominent practitioners, thinkers, and leaders that would lead the discussion on how Medical Physics 2.0 can be actualized. Topics of discussion will include the administrative, financial, regulatory, and accreditation requirements of the new paradigm, effective models of practice, and the steps that we need to take to make MP 2.0 a reality.Learning Objectives: To understand the new paradigm of clinical medical physics practice extending from traditional insular models of compliance towards teambased models of operational engagement. To understand how clinical physics can most effectively contribute to clinical care. Learn to identify strengths and weaknesses in studies designed to measure the effect of low doses of ionizing radiation To recognize the impediments to Medical Physics 2.0 paradigm.

TH‐E‐9A‐01: Medical Physics 1.0 to 2.0, Session 4: Computed Tomography, Ultrasound and Nuclear Medicine

Medical Physics 2.0 is a bold vision for an existential transition of clinical imaging physics in face of the new realities of value‐based and evidencebased medicine, comparative effectiveness, and meaningful use. It speaks to how clinical imaging physics can expand beyond traditional insular models of inspection and acceptance testing, oriented toward compliance, towards team‐based models of operational engagement, prospective definition and assurance of effective use, and retrospective evaluation of clinical performance. Organized into four sessions of the AAPM, this particular session focuses on three specific modalities as outlined below.CT 2.0:CT has been undergoing a dramatic transition in the last few decades. While the changes in the technology merits discussions of their own, an important question is how clinical medical physicists are expected to effectively engage with the new realities of CT technology and practice. Consistent with the upcoming paradigm of Medical Physics 2.0, this CT presentation aims to provide definitions and demonstration of the components of the new clinical medical physics practice pertaining CT. The topics covered include physics metrics and analytics that aim to provide higher order clinicallyrelevant quantification of system performance as pertains to new (and not so new) technologies. That will include the new radiation and dose metrics (SSDE, organ dose, risk indices), image quality metrology (MTF/NPS/d’), task‐based phantoms, and the effect of patient size. That will follow with a discussion of the testing implication of new CT hardware (detectors, tubes), acquisition methods (innovative helical geometries, AEC, wide beam CT, dual energy, inverse geometry, application specialties), and image processing and analysis (iterative reconstructions, quantitative CT, advanced renditions). The presentation will conclude with a discussion of clinical and operational aspects of Medical Physics 2.0 including training and communication, use optimization (dose and technique factors), automated analysis and data management (automated QC methods, protocol tracking, dose monitoring, issue tracking), and meaningful QC considerations.US 2.0:Ultrasound imaging is evolving at a rapid pace, adding new imaging functions and modes that continue to enhance its clinical utility and benefits to patients. The ultrasound talk will look ahead 10–15 years and consider how medical physicists can bring maximal value to the clinical ultrasound practices of the future. The roles of physics in accreditation and regulatory compliance, image quality and exam optimization, clinical innovation, and education of staff and trainees will all be considered. A detailed examination of expected technology evolution and impact on image quality metrics will be presented. Clinical implementation of comprehensive physics services will also be discussed.Nuclear Medicine 2.0:Although the basic science of nuclear imaging has remained relatively unchanged since its inception, advances in instrumentation continue to advance the field into new territories. With a great number of these advances occurring over the past decade, the role and testing strategies of clinical nuclear medicine physicists must evolve in parallel. The Nuclear Medicine 2.0 presentation is designed to highlight some of the recent advances from a clinical medical physicist perspective and provide ideas and motivation for designing better evaluation strategies. Topics include improvement of traditional physics metrics and analytics, testing implications of hybrid imaging and advanced detector technologies, and strategies for effective implementation into the clinic.Learning Objectives: Become familiar with new physics metrics and analytics in nuclear medicine, CT, and ultrasound. To become familiar with the major new developments of clinical physics support. To understand the physics testing implications of new technologies, hardware, software, and applications. Identify approaches for implementing comprehensive medical physics services in future imaging practices.

WE-E-12A-01: Medical Physics 1.0 to 2.0: MRI, Displays, Informatics

Medical Physics 2.0 is a bold vision for an existential transition of clinical imaging physics in face of the new realities of value-based and evidence-based medicine, comparative effectiveness, and meaningful use. It speaks to how clinical imaging physics can expand beyond traditional insular models of inspection and acceptance testing, oriented toward compliance, towards team-based models of operational engagement, prospective definition and assurance of effective use, and retrospective evaluation of clinical performance. Organized into four sessions of the AAPM, this particular session focuses on three specific modalities as outlined below. MRI 2.0: This presentation will look into the future of clinical MR imaging and what the clinical medical physicist will need to be doing as the technology of MR imaging evolves. Many of the measurement techniques used today will need to be expanded to address the advent of higher field imaging systems and dedicated imagers for specialty applications. Included will be the need to address quality assurance and testing metrics for multi-channel MR imagers and hybrid devices such as MR/PET systems. New pulse sequences and acquisition methods, increasing use of MR spectroscopy, and real-time guidance procedures will place the burden on the medical physicist to define and use new tools to properly evaluate these systems, but the clinical applications must be understood so that these tools are use correctly. Finally, new rules, clinical requirements, and regulations will mean that the medical physicist must actively work to keep her/his sites compliant and must work closely with physicians to ensure best performance of these systems. Informatics Display 1.0 to 2.0: Medical displays are an integral part of medical imaging operation. The DICOM and AAPM (TG18) efforts have led to clear definitions of performance requirements of monochrome medical displays that can be followed by medical physicists to ensure proper performance. However, effective implementation of that oversight has been challenging due to the number and extend of medical displays in use at a facility. The advent of color display and mobile displays has added additional challenges to the task of the medical physicist. This informatics display lecture first addresses the current display guidelines (the 1.0 paradigm) and further outlines the initiatives and prospects for color and mobile displays (the 2.0 paradigm). Informatics Management 1.0 to 2.0: Imaging informatics is part of every radiology practice today. Imaging informatics covers everything from the ordering of a study, through the data acquisition and processing, display and archiving, reporting of findings and the billing for the services performed. The standardization of the processes used to manage the information and methodologies to integrate these standards is being developed and advanced continuously. These developments are done in an open forum and imaging organizations and professionals all have a part in the process. In the Informatics Management presentation, the flow of information and the integration of the standards used in the processes will be reviewed. The role of radiologists and physicists in the process will be discussed. Current methods (the 1.0 paradigm) and evolving methods (the 2.0 paradigm) for validation of informatics systems function will also be discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. Identify requirements for improving quality assurance and compliance tools for advanced and hybrid MRI systems. 2. Identify the need for new quality assurance metrics and testing procedures for advanced systems. 3. Identify new hardware systems and new procedures needed to evaluate MRI systems. 4. Understand the components of current medical physics expectation for medical displays. 5. Understand the role and prospect fo medical physics for color and mobile display devices. 6. Understand different areas of imaging informatics and the methodology for developing informatics standards. 7. Understand the current status of informatics standards and the role of physicists and radiologists in the process, and the current technology for validating the function of these systems.

WE-A-12A-01: Medical Physics 1.0 to 2.0, Session 2: Radiography, Mammography and Fluoroscopy

Medical Physics 2.0 is a bold vision for an existential transition of clinical imaging physics in face of the new realities of value-based and evidencebased medicine, comparative effectiveness, and meaningful use. It speaks to how clinical imaging physics can expand beyond traditional insular models of inspection and acceptance testing, oriented toward compliance, towards team-based models of operational engagement, prospective definition and assurance of effective use, and retrospective evaluation of clinical performance. Organized into four sessions of the AAPM, this particular session focuses on three specific modalities as outlined below. Radiography 2.0: The development of electronic capture in recent years has changed the landscape and spurred reinvestment by healthcare providers. The radiography presentation will explore how the diagnostic medical physicist must adapt to these changes to support radiographic imaging, and how she/he can add value in radiography practice over the next 5-10 years. Topics of discussion include new metrology of evaluation, new models of clinical engagement, and effective integration of new technologies. Mammography 2.0: Mammography has been an interesting testing ground on the effectiveness of close involvement of medical physicists with equipment in the past twenty years. The outcomes have clearly shown major improvements in image quality and significant reduction in the average glandular dose. However, the medical physicist's role in mammography has been largely focused to annual surveys and with limited input on operational issues with image artifacts, optimal mammographic acquisition mode and problems with image quality. This mammography presentation will address why and how medical physicists must be prepared to address the new models of practice that include new metrics of performance and the integration of new technologies (DBT, syncretized mammograms, contrast mammography, breast CT) into clinical practice. Fluoroscopy 2.0: Physics support of fluoroscopy should be operationally as opposed to compliance focused. Testing protocols must address new hardware, acquisition methods, and image processing. Future available tools are discussed. Proper configuration of acquisition parameters (focal spot size, voltage and added filter, tube current, pulse width, pulse rate, scatter removal) as a function of patient size from the neonate to bariatric patient is key to providing diagnostic image quality at properly managed radiation doses. Learning Objectives: 1. Appreciate the limitations of the currently available tools and techniques in clinical medical physics in radiography, mammography, and fluoroscopy, and ways to improve upon current deficiencies. 2. Appreciate the changing environment of imaging practice and the need for the medical physicist to be an expert consultant and educator in a capacity that extends beyond the annual survey of equipment. 3. Understand the status of the rapidly changing environment in breast imaging from planar imaging to tomosynthesis and possibly to breast CT. 4. Identify appropriate configuration of acquisition parameters as a function of patient size to manage radiation dose and ensure diagnostic image quality.

Palliative patients’ and their significant others’ experiences of transitions concerning organizational, psychosocial and existential issues during the course of incurable cancer: a systematic review protocol

Review question/objective The objective of this review is to identify, appraise and synthesize the best available evidence exploring palliative patients’ or their significant others’ experiences of transitions during the course of incurable cancer. In this review, transitions are conceptualized as experiences concerning organizational, psychosocial and existential issues. More specifically, the review question is: What kinds of transitions do palliative patients and their significant others experience during the course of incurable cancer; in particular experiences relating to transitions concerning organizational, psychosocial and existential issues? Inclusion criteria Types of participants This review will consider studies that include adults aged 18 years and above who are suffering from incurable cancer and/or significant others (current or bereaved) of a person who is suffering has suffered from incurable cancer. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest This review will consider studies that investigate experiences of organizational, psychosocial, or existential transitions during the course of incurable cancer. Context The course of incurable cancer. Studies exploring euthanasia will be excluded because euthanasia is not included in the WHO definition of palliation.

The Funeral as a Site for Choreographing Modern Identities in Contemporary Ghana

Funerals in Ghana are elaborate commemorative ceremonies which not only mark the existential transition of the dead, but also crucially provide the opportunity for the reaffirmation and negotiation of complex social relations, political structures, and ontological identities. The death of a