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October 21, 2009
Proposing a Rite of Incorporation: Reversing the Hospital Stigma about Dying
Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Center for Health Policy & Ethics Conference Room
Discussant: Helen Stanton Chapple, PhD, Nurse Ethicist, Resident Faculty, CHPE
In US hospitals we use a ritual of intensification to resolve the ambiguity about seriously ill patients and to transform them from “rescuable” to “non-rescuable.” This process categorizes dying patients so that they lie beyond social concern. Such action fails to match other rites of passage because it lacks a mechanism for incorporating the dying back into society. This presentation will explore the cultural phenomenon of the ritual of intensification and propose alternatives that clinicians and others might use in their care of dying patients.
Moderated by:
Jos VM Welie, PhD, Professor, CHPE