Media Discourses on Autonomy in Dying and Death

THIS PAPER IS A SYNOPSIS of a research project designed to examine the representations of particular experiences of dying and death as represented in media consumed in Ireland. This media research is a small part of a large study commissioned by the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme, through the Irish Hospice Foundation. The large study, undertaken by a team of researchers from University College Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, was tasked with the development of an ethical framework for health-care practitioners on patient autonomy in end-oflife care. Patient autonomy at end-of-life is the degree of autonomy or control dying patients, in hospitals and other care settings, have over their end of life experiences. The aim of this media research was to identify and analyse the ways in which different media deal with end-of-life issues in relation to patient autonomy