Argumentation in end-of-life conversations with families in Dutch intensive care units: a qualitative observational study

Journal article

In long-term conditions, a great burden is placed on caregivers, who contribute to decisions regarding treatment. Studies on caregivers’ role in the decision-making process are scarce. In this paper, we aim to describe reasoning patterns on decisions regarding treatment, as they appear in two corpora consisting of discussions posted on online fora that include patients, caregivers and professionals. In the analysis, we focus in particular on the argument schemes used by caregivers

Authors: Akkermans, A; Prins, S; Spijkers, AS; Wagemans, J; Labrie, NHM

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Springer
• Journal: Intensive Care Medicine
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 421-433
• Publication date: 2023-04-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s00134-023-07027-6
• EISSN: 1432-1238
• ISSN: 0342-4642
• Language: English
• Keywords: Observational study; Pediatrics; Family medicine; Qualitative research; Intensive care; Epistemology; Intensive care medicine; Argumentative; Psychiatry; Medical education; Nursing; Medicine; Sociology; Discontinuation; Argumentation theory; Psychology; Thematic analysis