DESCRIPTIONS OF SUFFERING IN CONNECTION WITH LIFE VALUES - HEALTHY-INDIVIDUALS REFLECTIONS IN INTERVIEWS

Nine semistructured interviews with attendant questions were conducted with the purpose of elucidating how healthy individuals describe suff ering and life values in their reflections upon active euthanasia. Tn order to find the intended meaning in utterances, the interviews were interpreted step by step. The point of departure was the following que stion: What expressions of suffering and what expressions of life valu es can be found in the text? A connection was found between the interv iewees' descriptions of suffering and life values in their reflections upon active euthanasia. The interviewees who considered close relatio ns to be a value of life expressed suffering as dependence, compassion , violation, abandonment and feelings of guilt, while those to whom he alth was a value of life expressed suffering as torment, dependence, p hysical pain, feebleness, hopelessness and dying. Those who saw autono my as a value of life expressed suffering as dependence and violation, and those to whom doing good was a value of life expressed suffering as compassion. When organizing health care and deciding about the resp onse to suffering, it seems important to strive for a response built u pon the individual patient's description of suffering and life values.