Dark Side Study Idea-Feedback Welcome!

Hey Everyone! Alexis and I are working on an idea that Jody brought up to us during an independent study we worked on last summer. We are taking a look at how hope is communicated and how it functions in a palliative care context. Jody has established connections with a palliative care doctor here in town, so we are hoping to work through this connection to gain access to the stakeholders in the palliative care context--patients, physicians, nurses, other health care providers, social workers, family members, etc-- to learn more about how hope is communicated, if it is always light or if there are dark components to it and what those might be from these various perspectives within this unique healthcare context. With that in mind, here are the details of what we are proposing--Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions you all have would be welcome as we try to bring this project to fruition!

Proposal Details--Still in the Works

·         Interpretive Study focused on the communication of hope in the context of palliative care

·         Purpose: Hope is presented as a bright construct in health and healthcare. It has been linked to better health outcomes and relationships in the literature. Taking a dark side lens to this construct, we think that hope functions in a dark way for stakeholders in the context of palliative care—but we are not certain if this is the case, and if it is the case, how it operates for the various stakeholders.  So, this study is being designed to understand how hope is operating in the palliative care context—is it light? Is it dark? Is it both? For whom? When?

o   How is hope expected to function for the various stakeholders in palliative care context?

o   How does hope function for the various stakeholders in palliative care context?

·         Data collection will involve people within the palliative care context

o   Medical Providers (physicians, nurses, etc)

o   Patients

o   Social Workers

o   Family Members/Support Networks

o   Study for this class will likely narrow the data/perspective down

- Grounded Theory Approach using a Dark Side lens

Some of the things in the back of our minds are:

·         Macro Links/ Potential Off-shooting questions for future studies:

o   How do stories of hope this perpetuate the dominant restitution narrative in health and healthcare (Frank, 1995)

o   Does/How does the palliative care context and the stakeholders within it re-appropriate or challenge the restitution narrative? Reify/perpetuate the narrative? What communicative strategies are used in this perpetuation/challenge?

o   Do/How do stories of hope enable open communication between medical providers and patients? Loved ones and patients? Loved ones and medical providers?

o   Do/How do stories of hope constrain communication between medical providers and patients? Loved ones and patients? Loved ones and medical providers?

o   What role do stories of hope have on the patient’s identity management throughout their illness experience? In the face of death?

o   What role do stories of hope have on the identity management of loved ones throughout the illness experience? In the face of death?