Graduation Year

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Communication

Major Professor

Lori Roscoe, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Darrell Fasching, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Payne, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Frederick Steier, Ph.D.

Keywords

Caregiving, Community, Dying, Ethics, Health, Spirituality

Abstract

This dissertation examines end-of-life experiences at a small Zen hospice in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Through an exploration of how end-of-life communication, sense-making, decision-making, and care in this setting differ from that of typical clinical settings, this project highlights and interrogates the experiences of dying as spiritually, rhetorically, narratively, relationally, and communally bound events.

Keywords: Zen hospice, end of life, narrative sensemaking, medical-ethical decision making, spirituality, healing rhetoric, communities of practice

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