End of life choices and storytelling – exploring preferences and conflicts

As people are living longer, their needs for health and social care at the end of life (EoL) are increasing. People are encouraged to make choices about their EoL, but doing so is a complex process, and there is currently little research into how—and if—people engage with this. Our study investigated older people’s EoL choice making, through twenty interviews with people age 70 plus. We found that storytelling enabled people to make sense of and reflect on previous EoL experiences, and form, elaborate on, and justify their own EoL preferences. Stories also brought to the fore the inherent conflicts in making EoL choices, and emphasized that in reality choices for many are limited.