More patterns on palliative care identity: An autoethnography contribution

OBJECTIVES: To identify, describe and analytically interpret relational recurrent patterns shaping interactions in PC settings, and to offer practical guidance to haelth care professionals navicating complex end-of-life-scenarios. BACKGROUND: This study explores the dynamics influencing relational interactions in palliative care (PC) settings. Building upon 1 author's extensive clinical experience, reflection, and prior research, we aim to further illuminate the clinical and cultural factors that shape relational interactions and scenarios within PC. By integrating personal observations with scholarly literature and describing specific recurring global patterns of interaction, this article seeks to deepen understanding of PC culture and to provide healthcare professionals with practical strategies to improve engagement with patients and families. METHODS: This study aimed to explore and analytically describe recurrent relational patterns shaping interactions in PC settings through an analytic autoethnographic lens. Short evocative phrases were used to define the identified patterns as clinical vignettes. Based on recurrent clinical observations and reflexive positioning, and through an iterative analytic process, patterns were progressively identified, named, and situated within a theoretical framework. Ethical standards were upheld. RESULTS: Three end-of-life scenarios - "The Palliative Honeymoon," "The Cousin of France," and "Do Everything!" - emerged and were analyzed. The findings emphasize the importance of understanding these behavioral patterns in order to educate health professionals and enhance care provision. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: This original Portuguese analytic autoethnographic study is grounded in extensive experiential knowledge and addresses a gap in the literature regarding interactional patterns in PC. By integrating long-standing personal clinical experience with scholarly evidence, this autoethnographic study renders explicit what is often tacit in PC practice - the hidden cultural elements that shape clinical interactions. It is part of a continuum of research that willcontinue and be relate to elements of PC identity. By describing clinically relevant phenomena and integrating them with existing literature, this work offers strong practical implications and contributes to better preparing clinicians for the complex realities of PC practice.