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Human relationship: The forgotten dynamic in palliative care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2004

DENISE L. HAWTHORNE  and
NANCY J. YURKOVICH
DENISE L. HAWTHORNE
Affiliation:
Douglas College, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
NANCY J. YURKOVICH
Affiliation:
Community Advisory Council, Rotary Hospice House, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
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Abstract

Objective: Palliative care is a philosophy of care for individuals experiencing progressive, incurable disease. It encompasses two dynamics, science-based practice and relationship between patient, family, and health professional. Each dynamic is essential for quality palliative care, yet the requisites for each are different.

Methods: The scientific process of observation and measurement requires differentiation, distance, and detachment to fulfill its demands for objectivity, whereas relationship, unobservable and immeasurable, requires sameness, closeness, and connection of a shared humanity. It is science, however, the prevailing world-view, that shapes our thinking and consequently, influences the education and practice of health professionals.

Results: We explore the dynamics of science and relationship and the incongruities between them. We examine the prominence of science in palliative care and its impact on relationship.

Significance of results: We contend that questioning the current emphasis of science in palliative care and discovering the joy and rewards of shared human experience will enrich the quality of life for patients, families, and health professionals.

Keywords

Palliative careHuman relationshipSciencePatientHealth professional
Type
REVIEW ARTICLE
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , September 2003 , pp. 261 - 265
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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