Understanding oral history with people in palliative and supportive care: a constructivist grounded theory study

This study develops understanding of how oral history in palliative and supportive care is experienced by patients, family and friends, volunteers and health care professionals, using Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews are conducted with 22 research interviewees to consider the motives, experience, and outcomes of all parties, as six recipients of an oral history service move through the process. Constant comparative analysis is used with line-by-line and focused coding to determine emerging theories. The oral history experience is shaped by the participants’ own sense of mortality, their relationship with the volunteer interviewer, referring HCP, family and friends, and the interview setting. Motivations and experiencing legacy are identified as pivotal. The CGT identifies the basic social process of giving voice, which begins and continues through the temporal process with remembering and reflecting, this creates opportunities for autonomy and social interaction with the desired outcome of dignity. The study is the first to explore the experience of oral history at the end-of-life, from a range of perspectives. The work has implications for setting up and coordinating oral history services in palliative and supportive care and for the wider oral history community in understanding the oral history experience in these settings.