Biomaterial Database

Final conversations: survivors' memorable messages concerning religious faith and spirituality. 2004

Maureen P Keeley

Department of Communication Studies Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA. mk09@txstate.edu

This article reports on the findings from a project exploring final conversations (FCs). The FC project examines communication with the terminally ill from the often-overlooked survivor's perspective (N = 30). The researcher focuses purposely on one major theme discovered in the FC interviews, that of messages shared regarding religious faith or spirituality. Messages pertaining to religious faith or spirituality were identified in 26 of the 30 FC interviews. The results revealed that validation-comfort and validation-community were the dominant themes in FC. Further, when framed as memorable messages, these FC excerpts revealed three "rules of conduct" relating to the following: (a) how to cope with life's challenges after a loved one is gone, (b) how to be involved in the death and dying process, and (c) how to enact or live your religion or spirituality. Implications for health communication theory and research, as well as comforting literature, are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007407	Interviews as Topic	Works about conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes works about school admission or job interviews.	Group Interviews,Interviewers,Interviews, Telephone,Oral History as Topic,Group Interview,Interview, Group,Interview, Telephone,Interviewer,Interviews, Group,Telephone Interview,Telephone Interviews
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D012067	Religion	A set of beliefs concerning the nature, cause, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency. It usually involves devotional and ritual observances and often a moral code for the conduct of human affairs. (Random House Collegiate Dictionary, rev. ed.)	Prayer,Religious Beliefs,Religious Ethics,Beliefs, Religious,Ethic, Religious,Prayers,Religions,Religious Belief
D012106	Research	Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws. (Webster, 3d ed)	Research Priorities,Laboratory Research,Research Activities,Research and Development,Activities, Research,Activity, Research,Development and Research,Priorities, Research,Priority, Research,Research Activity,Research Priority,Research, Laboratory
D003142	Communication	The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.	Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D005190	Family	A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.	Family Life Cycles,Family Members,Family Life Cycle,Family Research,Filiation,Kinship Networks,Relatives,Families,Family Member,Kinship Network,Life Cycle, Family,Life Cycles, Family,Network, Kinship,Networks, Kinship,Research, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D006117	Grief	Normal, appropriate sorrowful response to an immediate cause. It is self-limiting and gradually subsides within a reasonable time.	Mourning,Griefs,Mournings
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man