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After-death interviews with surrogates/bereaved family members: some issues of validity

After-death interviews with surrogates/bereaved family members: some issues of validity
After-death interviews with surrogates/bereaved family members: some issues of validity
After-death interviews with bereaved respondents are an important tool in the repertoire of researchers evaluating the quality of end-of-life care or investigating the experiences of people at the end of life. Despite the importance of after-death interviews to our understanding of the last months of life, the validity of the information gathered has received little attention. In this article, we review some of the available information, drawing on evidence from cognitive psychology as well as from palliative care studies. Findings from cognitive psychology indicate that memory is a dynamic process, influenced by emotion state and the individual's perspective at the time of the event and at recall. Further research is therefore needed to understand better the circumstances, types of information and research questions for which bereaved relatives are valid surrogates for people who have died.
Survey methods, quality assurance, bereavement, surrogates
784-790
Addington-Hall, J.
87560cc4-7562-4f9b-b908-81f3b603fdd8
McPherson, C.
a59b08b8-ffc4-49b8-a83f-bb04c03f292a
Addington-Hall, J.
87560cc4-7562-4f9b-b908-81f3b603fdd8
McPherson, C.
a59b08b8-ffc4-49b8-a83f-bb04c03f292a

Addington-Hall, J. and McPherson, C. (2001) After-death interviews with surrogates/bereaved family members: some issues of validity. Journal of Pain and Sympton Management, 22 (3), 784-790. (doi:10.1016/S0885-3924(01)00330-X).

Record type: Article

Abstract

After-death interviews with bereaved respondents are an important tool in the repertoire of researchers evaluating the quality of end-of-life care or investigating the experiences of people at the end of life. Despite the importance of after-death interviews to our understanding of the last months of life, the validity of the information gathered has received little attention. In this article, we review some of the available information, drawing on evidence from cognitive psychology as well as from palliative care studies. Findings from cognitive psychology indicate that memory is a dynamic process, influenced by emotion state and the individual's perspective at the time of the event and at recall. Further research is therefore needed to understand better the circumstances, types of information and research questions for which bereaved relatives are valid surrogates for people who have died.

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Published date: September 2001
Keywords: Survey methods, quality assurance, bereavement, surrogates

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 23978
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/23978
PURE UUID: fa69e1c1-9e37-4837-9594-f1cdbf1c1dfa

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Date deposited: 20 Mar 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:50

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Author: C. McPherson

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