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The purpose of this article is to provide recent findings on the perceptions and experiences about end-of-life care for individuals with a hematological malignancy. A qualitative design based on a series of open-ended interviews and one focus group was utilized to explore and document the experience of survivorship from the perspective of adult patients diagnosed with a hematological malignancy. Fifty participants (n = 26 male;n = 24 female) were interviewed representing the major hematological diagnostic groups: Multiple Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Leukemia. The interviews and focus group were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and thematically analyzed. The findings presented are from the participants' experiences with end-of-life care. The findings indicated that those fortunate enough to know about the benefits of palliative care are more likely to access palliative care during end-of-life care. However, for many hematology patients there are still problems with timely referrals to the palliative system. Within the context of an Australian research program, the findings provide a useful “snapshot” of current issues for Australian hematology patients and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper utilizes a case study of a woman in the final stage of Frederick's Ataxia, who, together with her carer, participated in an interview just days before she died. As a consequence of impairment associated with the later stage of the disease, the participant's verbal communication was limited. There are various ways in which individuals who are confronting the end of life experience spirituality. For this woman, spirituality was expressed as a connection with significant others, rather than as religiosity. Key findings are expressed in terms of the importance of insights offered by people with non-verbal communication, spirituality rather than religiousness, and the importance of domiciliary palliative care. The most important gift that pastoral carers, and carers in general, have to offer is the gift of relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]