Kinship Health Relationships: Reconfiguring the ‘good death’ in mixed species families.

Ashall, Vanessa; Hamilton, Lindsay; Johnson, Miriam; Latimer, Joanna

Abstract

Through an innovative interspecies analysis, this article explores narratives surrounding the medical treatment of humans and pet animals at the end of life among UK veterinary surgeons, medical practitioners and members of the public. Contrasting the care options open to pet owners with those available to human patients, and through a thematic focus on treatments and medicines, euthanasia and palliation, this article pays close attention to the ways that practitioners and members of the public make sense of - and express ideas about - interspecies family kinship at the end of a life. We highlight the utility of interactionist approaches for understanding microsocial human-animal kinship ties and argue that health policy and practice during end-of-life care should better reflect the lived reality of the multispecies family. In so doing, we highlight the significance and complexities of interspecies conversations for the development of contemporary end-of-life care debates.
Keywords: ‘good death’, end-of-life care, clinical responsibility, euthanasia, palliative care, animal-human relations; pets; posthumanism; kinship.

Citation

Ashall, V., Hamilton, L., Johnson, M., & Latimer, J. (2024). Kinship Health Relationships: Reconfiguring the ‘good death’ in mixed species families. Symbolic Interaction, https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.689

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 26, 2024
• Journal: Symbolic Interaction
• Print ISSN: 0195-6086
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.689
• Keywords: “Good death”; End-of-life care; Clinical responsibility; Euthanasia; Palliative care; Animal-human relations; Pets; Posthumanism; Kinship
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4546275