"Although death is a natural process, I do not think we can be prepared for it. The important thing is to ask ourselves how to avoid being afraid, "Marian Krawczyk argued. To get there, she proposes a series of foundation social changes concerning our beliefs. She deems it necessary to question the idea that there is only value in "youth, autonomy and health."

"There may be some value in the process of dying." In the same way that childhood has value and we do not want children to get through it and reach adulthood as soon as possible, she proposes that we appreciate the value that death can offer. Marian Krawczyk, a sociologist and anthropologist at the University of Glasgow, gave a seminar on palliative care to the ATLANTES Program of the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Navarra.

However, although death can in some way be of value, she recognizes that it is still an uncertain process: "With new treatments, it is difficult to know when life is going to end." Because of this, doctors often question whether to treat a person or if it will cause excessive suffering. "They usually choose the safest option, which is to treat."

The fact that it is an uncertain process affects palliative care units. "This field requires the willingness to work in what is called the gray area," meaning that doctors must be "very flexible" and "comfortable with uncertainty." This is accompanied by the fact that doctors are increasingly asked to do things "in less time." One way to deal with this problem, according to the expert, is to build multidisciplinary teams that talk about cases regularly in order to improve.

Palliative care challenges

The expert worked for a year in two hospitals in Canada to better understand the challenges of caring for people and helping them to experience a good death. One of the main challenges that the sociologist points out is improving the perception that other specialist have of palliative care. "Some doctors see palliative care as abandoning the patient and it is important to change this perception."

Another big problem that palliative care faces is that "patients are sicker" because, although many treatments allow patients to live longer, they present more symptoms during their prolonged life. It is also important to know when "to refrain from offering more treatment," although the expert recognizes that this is a difficult issue.

Another challenge she pointed out is the "austerity measures that some hospitals face." The lack of resources in many healthcare centers means that sometimes patients are sent home "too fast." This causes doctors to "fight with the administration," which wears them down.