Little has been said about the disruptive impact that the inability to eat and to participate in mealtimes has for patients with a life-threatening illness and their families. The aim of the current study is to overcome this gap and shed light on how food and eating practices are experienced by families at the end-of-life. An ethnographic research was developed in two Portuguese palliative care units: participant observation was conducted during 10 months and in-depth interviews were carried out with 10 patients with a life-threatening illness, 20 family members and 20 palliative care professionals. Food is not only a matter of nutrition in a biological sense, but also an act of giving care to patients with a life-threatening illness. The findings suggest that food and eating practices affect the processes of relationality and of doing family at the end-of-life in Portugal. Attention is particularly paid to gender differences. The study supports recent sociological research which understands the dying process as a relational experience and intends to develop sociological knowledge on the materialities of care.

中文翻译：

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在临终时养家糊口：关于食物和饮食习惯对葡萄牙面临死亡的家庭的作用的民族志研究

关于无法进食和无法参与进餐时间对患有危及生命的疾病的患者及其家人的破坏性影响，鲜有提及。当前研究的目的是克服这一差距，并阐明家庭在临终时如何体验食物和饮食习惯。在葡萄牙的两个姑息治疗单位开展了一项民族志研究：在 10 个月内进行了参与者观察，并对 10 名患有危及生命的疾病的患者、20 名家庭成员和 20 名姑息治疗专业人员进行了深入访谈。食物不仅是生物学意义上的营养问题，也是对危及生命的疾病患者的护理行为。研究结果表明，食物和饮食习惯会影响葡萄牙人在临终时建立关系和做家庭的过程。特别注意性别差异。该研究支持最近的社会学研究，该研究将死亡过程理解为一种关系体验，并打算发展关于护理重要性的社会学知识。