In Sweden, palliative care has, over the past decades, been object to policies and guidelines with focus on how to achieve “good palliative care”. The aim of this study has been to analyse how experts make sense of the development and the current state of palliative care. Departing from this aim, focus has been on identifying how personal experiences of ‘the self’ are intertwined with culturally available meta-level concepts and how experts contribute to construct new scripts on palliative care. Twelve qualitative interviews were conducted. Four scripts were identified after analysing the empirical material: 1. script of paths towards working within palliative care; 2. script of desirable and deterrent reference points; 3. script of tensions between improvement and bureaucracy; and 4. script of low status and uncertain definitions. The findings of this study illustrate how experts in complex ways intertwine experiences of ‘the self’ with meta-levels concepts in order to make sense of the field of palliative care. The participants did not endorse one “right way” of “good” deaths. Instead, palliative care was considered to be located in a complex state where the historical development, consisting of both desirable ideals, death denials and lack of guidelines, and more recent developments of strives towards universal concepts, “improvement” and increased bureaucracy altogether played a significant role for how palliative care has developed and is organised and conducted today.

在瑞典，姑息治疗在过去几十年中一直反对政策和指导方针，重点是如何实现“良好的姑息治疗”。本研究的目的是分析专家如何理解姑息治疗的发展和现状。与此目标不同，重点一直是确定“自我”的个人经历如何与文化上可用的元层次概念交织在一起，以及专家如何为构建姑息治疗的新脚本做出贡献。进行了十二次定性访谈。在分析经验材料后确定了四个脚本： 1.在姑息治疗中工作的路径脚本；2.可取和威慑参考点脚本；3.改善与官僚主义之间的紧张关系；4.地位低下、定义不明确的文字。这项研究的结果说明了专家如何以复杂的方式将“自我”的体验与元层次的概念交织在一起，以便理解姑息治疗领域。参与者没有认可一种“正确”的“好”死亡方式。相反，姑息治疗被认为处于一个复杂的状态，历史发展，包括理想的理想、否认死亡和缺乏指导方针，以及最近向普遍概念、“改进”和官僚主义增加的努力的发展，共同发挥了作用。姑息治疗的发展、组织和实施方式发挥了重要作用。