The significance of connectedness for well-being is well known. At the end of life however, illness and body decline may challenge a person’s ability of staying and feeling connected. The aim of this phenomenological study was to interpret meanings of connectedness, through narrative interviews with persons admitted to inpatient palliative care in Sweden. Results involving connectedness through the body, connectedness to, and uncanniness toward other patients, and connectedness to significant others and society are discussed. The study underscores the importance of connectedness until death. However, in inpatient palliative care this is complex. Patients can cocreate or challenge each other’s sense of connectedness through the symbolism of illness and diseased bodies. Moreover, the capability of connectedness is influenced by illness, spatiality, atmosphere, activities, and resources in the care place.
OttmannGDicksonJWrightP. Social connectedness and health: a literature review. Gladnet collection. DigitalCommons ILR Cornell Educ. 2006;7:1–55. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/gladnetcollect. Accessed October 1, 2014.
2.
RasmussenBHTishelmanCLindqvistO. Experiences of living with a deteriorating body in late palliative phases of cancer. Curr Opin Supp Palliat Care. 2010;4(3):153–157.
3.
LawtonJ. The Dying Process: Patients’ Experiences of Palliative Care. New York, NY: Routledge; 2000.
4.
HåkansonCÖhlenJ. Meanings and experiential outcomes of bodily care in a specialist palliative context. Palliat Support Care. 2014:1–9. doi: 10.1017/s147895151400025x.
5.
GuoQJacelonCS. An integrative review of dignity in end-of-life care. Palliat Med. 2014;28(7):931–940.
6.
HigginsonIJHearnJMyersKNaysmithA. Palliative day care: what do services do? Palliative day care project group. Palliat Med. 2000;14(4):277–286.
7.
PayneM. Social objectives in cancer care: the example of palliative day care. Eur J Cancer Care. 2006;15(5):440–447.
8.
PatrickHKneeCRCanevelloALonsbaryC. The role of need fulfillment in relationship functioning and well-being: a self-determination theory perspective. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2007;92(3):434–457.
9.
MaslowAH. Toward a Psychology of Being. 3rd ed. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons; 2011.
10.
PesutBA. Conversation on diverse perspectives of spirituality in nursing literature. Nurs Philos. 2008;9(2):98–109.
11.
PesutBFowlerMTaylorEJReimer-KirkhamSSawatzkyR. Conceptualising spirituality and religion for healthcare. J Clin Nurs. 2008;17(21):2803–2810.
12.
SchutzALuckmanT. Structures of the Life-World. Vol. 1. Illinois: North Western University Press; 1973.
13.
van BelDTSmoldersKCHJIjsselsteijnWAde KortYAW. Social Connectedness: Concept and Measurement. Amsterdam: IOS Press; 2009;67–74.
14.
PriceB. Altered body image: managing social encounters. Int J Palliat Nurs. 2000;6(4):179–185.
15.
McKechnieRMacleodRKeelingS. Facing uncertainty: the lived experience of palliative care. Palliat Support Care. 2007;5(4):367–376.
16.
RasmussenBH. Striving for becoming at-home in the midst of dying. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2000;17(1):31–33.
17.
ÖhlenJBengtssonJSkottCSegestenK. Being in a lived retreat: embodied meaning of alleviated suffering. Cancer Nurs. 2002;25(4):318–325.
18.
RasmussenBHEdvardssonD. The influence of environment in palliative care: supporting or hindering experiences of ‘at-homeness’. Contemp Nurse. 2007;27(1):119–131.
19.
GomesBCalanzaniNGyselsMHallSHigginsonIJ. Heterogeneity and changes in preferences for dying at home: a systematic review. BMC Palliat Care. 2013;12:7. doi:10.1186/1472-684X-12-7.
20.
GomesBHigginsonIJ. Where people die (1974–2030): past trends, future projections and implications for care. Palliat Med. 2008;22(1):33–41.
21.
Swedish Palliative Register. [http://palliativ.se]. Accessed October 1, 2014.
22.
LawtonJ. Contemporary hospice care: the sequestration of the unbounded body and ‘dirty dying’. Sociol Health Illn. 1998;20(2):121–143.
23.
RoseN. Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self. London: Routledge; 1990.
24.
SweetingHNGilhoolyML. Doctor, am I dead? A review of social death in modern societies. Omega. 1992;24(4):252–269.
25.
KellehearA. Spirituality and palliative care: a model of needs. Palliat Med. 2000;14(2):149–155.
26.
DobratzMC. “All my saints are within me”: Expressions of end-of-life spirituality. Palliat Support Care. 2013;11(3):191–198.
27.
FribergFÖhlenJ. Searching for knowledge and understanding while living with impending death—a phenomenological case study. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2007;2(4):217–226.
28.
van ManenM. Researching the Lived Experience: Human Science for a Action Sensitive Pedagogy. 2nd ed. Ontario: Althouse Press; 1997.
29.
CronfalkBSStrangPTernestedtBMFriedrichsenM. The existential experiences of receiving soft tissue massage in palliative home care – an intervention. Support Care Cancer. 2009;17(9):1203–1211.
30.
HakansonCSahlberg-BlomETernestedtBMNyhlinH. Learning about oneself through others: experiences of a group-based patient education programme about irritable bowel syndrome. Scand J Caring Sci. 2012;26(4):738–746.
31.
LuomaMLHakamies-BlomqvistLBlomqvistCNikanderRGustavsson-LiliusMSaartoT. Experiences of breast cancer survivors participating in a tailored exercise intervention – a qualitative study. Anticancer Res. 2014;34(3):1193–1199.
32.
VenturaFOhlenJKoinbergI. An integrative review of supportive e-health programs in cancer care. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2013;17(4):498–507.
33.
Phillips-SalimiCRHaaseJEKookenWC. Connectedness in the context of patient-provider relationships: a concept analysis. J Adv Nurs. 2012;68(1):230–245.
34.
HenrikssonABenzeinETernestedtBMAndershedB. Meeting needs of family members of persons with life-threatening illness: a support group program during ongoing palliative care. Palliat Support Care. 2011;9(3):263–271.
35.
LaydenJNicolBConnellyMHekeremDMeadeR. Benefits of health and social care integration. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2014;4:118. doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2014-000653.40.
36.
KennettC1PayneM. Understanding why palliative care patients ‘like daycare’ and ‘getting out’. J Palliat Care. 2005;21(4):292–298.
37.
ZahaviD. Subjectivity and Selfhood. Investigating the First-Person Perspective. Massachusetts: Bradford Books; 2008.
38.
LarsenLSLarsenBHBirkelundR. An ambiguous relationship – a qualitative meta-synthesis of hospitalized somatic patients’ experience of interaction with fellow patients. Scand J Car Sci. 2013;27(3):495–505.
39.
HermanssonARTernestedtBM. What do we know about the dying patient? Awareness as a means to improve palliative care. Med Law. 2000;19(2):335–344.
40.
BakardjievaM. Internet Society. The Internet in Everyday Life. London: SAGE Publications Ltd; 2005.
41.
FranklVE. Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press; 2006.
42.
MurraySAMcLoughlinP. Illness trajectories and palliative care: implications for holistic service provision for all in the last year of life. In: SallnowLKumarSKellaharA, eds. International Perspectives on Public Health and Palliative Care. New York, NY: Routledge; 2012.
43.
ChaykoM. Portable Communitites. The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness. New York, NY: State University of New York Press; 2008.
44.
CarlanderI. Me-Ness and We-Ness in a Modified Everyday Life Close to Death at Home. Doctoral Thesis. Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet; 2011.
45.
WalkerSReadS. Accessing vulnerable research populations: an experience with gatekeepers of ethical approval. J Palliat Nurs. 2011;17(1):14–18.
