Phenomenology of Pain and Suffering at the End of Life: A Humanistic Perspective in Gerontological Health and Social Work

Abstract

In this article, the author examines the phenomenology of pain and suffering and the fundamentally social nature of living with serious illness for older adults at life's end. She focuses on three concerns in gerontological health and social work: developing a phenomenological account of lived experiences of pain and suffering; articulating a humanistic phenomenological perspective on the axiological and ethical dimensions of pain and suffering; and exploring a phenomenological approach to a more humanistic, person-centered social work practice with older adults in end-of-life and palliative care. The contribution that the author makes through this article is in elaborating a humanistic framework for understanding agency, obligation, and ethical choice in end-of-life decision making.

KEYWORDS:

• affective
• axiology
• end-of-life care
• existential
• intersubjective
• pain
• palliative care
• phenomenology
• public health
• relational
• suffering