Abstract Although ample research suggests that individuals prefer to die at home, the realities of a home death experience, from the perspective of family members, are not well understood. The following study addresses this gap in knowledge via a narrative analysis about the process of dying at home. Five family caregivers participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences witnessing and supporting the end-of-life process of an older family member who died at home. Their stories paint a vivid picture about the motivations and consequences of the experience, including themes such as caregivers’ immense feelings of uncertainty regarding their caregiving abilities and decision making, the significance of the home environment as a symbol of comfort and security, the influence of family and social networks, and “dying well” as a social justice issue. Overall, the caregivers’ narratives support the notion that being at home is considered an essential aspect of ”dying well.” However, the narratives also demonstrate that dying at home presents many challenges for family members, especially to those with limited resources and social support. Thus, the authors caution against viewing the home death as a proxy for a good death.

中文翻译：

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在家死亡的动机和后果：家庭照顾者的观点

摘要 尽管大量研究表明个人更愿意在家中死亡，但从家庭成员的角度来看，在家中死亡经历的现实尚不清楚。以下研究通过对在家中死亡过程的叙述分析来解决这一知识差距。五位家庭护理人员参加了半结构化访谈，讲述了他们见证和支持一位在家中去世的年长家庭成员的临终过程的经历。他们的故事生动地描绘了体验的动机和后果，包括诸如护理人员对其护理能力和决策的巨大不确定感、家庭环境作为舒适和安全象征的重要性、家庭和社交网络，和“死得很好”作为一个社会正义问题。总体而言，护理人员的叙述支持这样一种观点，即待在家里被认为是“安然无恙”的一个重要方面。然而，这些叙述也表明，在家中死去给家庭成员带来了许多挑战，尤其是对于那些资源和社会支持有限的人。因此，作者告诫不要将家庭死亡视为好死的代表。