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Attitudes of the critically ill toward prolonging life: the role of social support
Author(s)Elizabeth J Mutran, Marion Danis, Kathleen A Bratton
Journal titleThe Gerontologist, vol 37, no 2, April 1997
Pagespp 192-199
KeywordsDying ; Terminal care ; Medical care ; In-patients ; Family relationships ; White people ; Black people ; United States of America.
AnnotationAs further advances in medical technology are being made, researchers are beginning to focus attention on the attitudes of critically ill patients toward the extension of life, and in the factors which affect these attitudes. In this study, desires to prolong life were investigated in 212 patients at a hospital in North Carolina, US, aged 50 years and over. All participants had severe illnesses and had a life expectancy of six to twelve months. The importance of social support was emphasised in defining the context in which the stressors of unfinished business and fear of death prompted desires to prolong life. Findings showed that family contact moderated the relationship between fear of death and unfinished business with a desire to prolong life. Family contact and salience increased the desire to live longer for African Americans, but not for white Americans. (AKM).
Accession NumberCPA-980813405 A
ClassmarkCX: LV: LK: LF7: DS:SJ: TKA: TKE: 7T

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