My understanding of discourse analysis is that it is qualitative data collection that could not otherwise be obtained via ‘normal’ means; rather it is the analysis of participants in their given surroundings, and of the subtle interactions that take place between a medical practitioner and a patient in a healthcare setting, as well data collection from written sources. There are several discourse analysis techniques that could be used; looking for the use of particular words in transcribed/’researcher-generated’ text or analysing the way in which things are said during interviews etc. In my opinion, it is a rather cumbersome way of gathering data; time-consuming, requiring highly trained researchers, and possibly difficult to extrapolate to the wider population, but it could provide some valuable data that could be a stepping stone towards policy change or a change in medical practice and training.
The paper I have chosen, rather than analysing the avoidance of being in a state of denial about death, looks at acceptance of death. The researcher includes the term ‘accept or acceptance’ in their search for literature, and singles out 40 articles on the acceptance of death. What I have learnt from their work is:
- Although death is a common occurrence in the hospital environment, there is still much to understand when it comes to individual psyches of patients when faced with the issue of death, and that acceptance of death is not merely a final stage in the 5 stages taught during medical training.
- Medical and hospice staff can work to improve a patient’s condition before death, as well as try to manage the patient’s and their family’s expectations of death, aiming for a ‘good death’ as described in the literature.
Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612002341
