Table 5.
Clergy Perspectives on the Influence of Location of Death on the Quality of the Death Experiencea
| I think it all depends. … More importantly it is the people who are around them. I would say that for most people as long as they are with their loved ones they will be fine. (JP414) |
| In a sense it [location] does and in a sense it doesn't [matter]. If you're getting good attention and have freedom of visitors in ICU it can be just as positive as being at home. I think it depends on the quality of the environment around them. (MB107) |
| I would much rather see it at home with people around in a place where they are feeling comfortable and secure as opposed to—I mean you walk into an ICU and it scares the heck out of you. (CM1219) |
| I think staying in the home would be better because I was in the hospital and no, you cannot sleep there. There is something always beeping or some alarm. (TC115) |
| In a hospital probably you can receive the best care, because of the staffing and the equipment. Hospice is next, but at home most family members don't know how to handle the situation. And there is also some cultural factor playing in here because most Chinese people don't want a person to die in their house. (TC1030) |
| It doesn't matter, because what happens is you die. So wherever you die, it doesn't really make any difference. (MB1021) |
| I think the place does make a difference to the extent that to be the place of the person's choosing, if you have that control, if you are able to say, ‘I'm going to die at home’ and that is honored, I think that is important. If it is kind of open then it might not make such a difference. (MJB1030FG-H) |
| It is not about when, where, how, circumstances, heart attack, car crash, disease. The fact is as clergy we need to teach our congregation the fact that death is a reality on this earth. I think we owe it to ourselves as clergy to make sure that we are responsible enough in our ministry to have our congregation informed about death. (MJB1030FG-C) |
| And I'm not sure it [location of death] is a theological point for me. It is a human dignity point which flows into my theological point. (MJB1030FG-I) |
| I think it depends on the overall situation, but I think at home around family is a good death. (RT7292914) |
a
Participant identifiers that include “FG” indicate that the quote is from a focus group; the letter afterwards indicates the specific speaker.