Sociology and Palliative Care: Travelling Concepts and Possibilities for Sociology

Borgstrom, Erica (2024). Sociology and Palliative Care: Travelling Concepts and Possibilities for Sociology. In: Mallon, Sharon and Towers, Laura eds. Death, Dying and Bereavement: New Sociological Perspectives. London, UK: Routledge, pp. 67–76.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003376569-8

Abstract

Palliative and end-of-life care often involve sociological contexts and questions – like how do people die and how is this differentially experienced – and yet the vast majority of the research in this field within the United Kingdom and many other countries is not specifically sociologically grounded. This lack of attending to sociology within palliative care is despite sociological concepts providing motivation for policy and practice interventions. There is therefore an issue where sociology provides key insights and tools for understanding and imagining palliative and end-of-life care, while simultaneously not being recognised as a core discipline in this field. This chapter considers this issue in three parts. First, why, and to some extent how, sociology has found traction within palliative care, drawing on Barbour’s notion of sociolization. Second, two sociological concepts used within palliative care are discussed: awareness contexts and social death. In their ‘travel’ from sociology into palliative care, they are viewed as critiques of the care, even though they are based on older studies, and newer research and nuances are left unincorporated into palliative care understandings. The final section reflects on the contemporary possibilities for sociologists wishing to engage in this field.

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