The process of dying, the provision of care associated with the end of life, and rituals of mourning and memorialization are all profoundly shaped by the physical places and social environments in which death occurs. Matters of dying are not only physical, emotional or spiritual, they are also relational, cultural, and political. Decision making about medical interventions, caregiving, location of death, and burial are complicated by numerous factors. For example, diagnosis and life stage of the dying, patient/caregiver family dynamics, relationships with physicians and nurses, personal beliefs about death and dying, and the ethos of end-of-life care espoused by varying health care systems influence our evaluations of what it means to experience a “good death,” and our bereavement. This special issue of the Journal of Housing for the Elderly includes six empirical articles focused on the environments of dying, death, and caregiving at end-of-life for older adults. The first four articles constitute a collection of papers by researchers at the University of Missouri that are derived from a larger, narrative project addressing older patients’, family caregivers’, and physicians’ perspectives about the process of dying in three different environments: home, nursing home, and hospital. A broad introduction entitled “Place of Death and Dying: Introduction” precedes the four empirical articles that developed from this project. The fifth and sixth articles in this issue constitute original research from others that address dying in residential hospice facilities, and places of burial and memorialization practices, respectively. In the first empirical article, “The Motivations and Consequences of Dying at Home: Family Caregiver Perspectives,” the authors present a rich understanding about the meaning of home in the context of dying. Relational aspects of death and dying, especially relating to family and the co-conspiratorship between family, home, and experiencing a “good death,” are major themes derived from this study. The authors challenge the notion that dying at home is synonymous with dying well, and recommend that practitioners and caregiving families focus less on controlling the physical location of death and instead focus on evoking the “essence of home” regardless of location. The second article, “The Last Habitat: Living and Dying in a Residential Care Facility,” addresses patient and family caregiver perspectives about the phenomenon of dying in a residential care facility or nursing home. Based on the findings, the authors suggest that dying in a nursing home is arguably less dignified and more isolating than dying at home or in a hospital due to the chronic health conditions that typify nursing home residents and the ways nursing homes are physically, financially, and operationally structured. In the next article, “The ‘Medicalized Death’: Dying in the Hospital,” the authors present four cases of caregiver perspectives on dying in the hospital setting. In this study the “good death” vsersus “bad death” debate is central to the caregivers’ stories. Inconsistent with popular thought, the authors found that the hospital is not

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临终时的死亡、死亡和照料环境

死亡的过程、与生命终结相关的关怀以及哀悼和纪念的仪式都受到死亡发生的物理地点和社会环境的深刻影响。死亡的问题不仅是身体上的、情感上的或精神上的，它们也是关系的、文化的和政治的。关于医疗干预、护理、死亡地点和埋葬的决策因多种因素而变得复杂。例如，临终者的诊断和生命阶段、患者/护理人员的家庭动态、与医生和护士的关系、个人对死亡和临终的信念以及不同医疗保健系统所支持的临终关怀精神会影响我们对体验“美好的死亡”和我们的丧亲之痛意味着什么。本期《老年人住房杂志》特刊包括六篇实证文章，重点关注老年人临终、死亡和临终照料的环境。前四篇文章构成了密苏里大学研究人员的论文集，这些论文来自一个更大的叙事项目，涉及老年患者、家庭护理人员和医生对三种不同环境中死亡过程的看法：家庭、疗养院和医院。在从该项目发展而来的四篇实证文章之前，有一篇题为“死亡之地：介绍”的广泛介绍。本期的第五篇和第六篇文章分别来自其他人的原创研究，分别涉及住宅临终关怀设施以及埋葬和纪念实践的地方。在第一篇实证文章“在家死亡的动机和后果：家庭照顾者的观点”中，作者对临终背景下家的意义有了丰富的理解。死亡和临终的关系方面，特别是与家庭以及家庭、家庭和经历“好死”之间的共谋有关，是这项研究的主要主题。作者挑战了在家死就是死的同义词的观念，并建议从业者和看护家庭少关注控制死亡的物理位置，而是专注于唤起“家的本质”，而不管位置如何。第二篇文章，“最后的栖息地：在住宅护理设施中生与死，”解决了患者和家庭护理人员对在住宅护理机构或疗养院死亡现象的看法。根据调查结果，作者认为，由于疗养院居民的慢性健康状况以及疗养院的身体、财务、和操作结构。在下一篇文章“'医疗死亡'：在医院死亡”中，作者介绍了四个护理人员对医院环境中死亡的看法的案例。在这项研究中，“好死”与“坏死”的争论是看护者故事的核心。与流行的想法不符，作者发现医院不是 作者认为，由于疗养院居民的慢性健康状况以及疗养院的身体、财务和运营结构，在疗养院死亡可以说比在家里或医院死亡更没有尊严，更孤立。在下一篇文章“'医疗死亡'：在医院死亡”中，作者介绍了四个护理人员对医院环境中死亡的看法的案例。在这项研究中，“好死”与“坏死”的争论是看护者故事的核心。与流行的想法不符，作者发现医院不是 作者认为，由于疗养院居民的慢性健康状况以及疗养院的身体、财务和运营结构，在疗养院死亡可以说比在家里或医院死亡更没有尊严，更孤立。在下一篇文章“'医疗死亡'：在医院死亡”中，作者介绍了四个护理人员对医院环境中死亡的看法的案例。在这项研究中，“好死”与“坏死”的争论是看护者故事的核心。与流行的想法不符，作者发现医院不是 和操作结构。在下一篇文章“'医疗死亡'：在医院死亡”中，作者介绍了四个护理人员对医院环境中死亡的看法的案例。在这项研究中，“好死”与“坏死”的争论是看护者故事的核心。与流行的想法不符，作者发现医院不是 和操作结构。在下一篇文章“'医疗死亡'：在医院死亡”中，作者介绍了四个护理人员对医院环境中死亡的看法的案例。在这项研究中，“好死”与“坏死”的争论是看护者故事的核心。与流行的想法不符，作者发现医院不是