The Present and Aporia of End-of-life Care

Can Locational Logic provide a New Perspective on Care?

Abstract

Terminal care has recently come to be known as end-of-life care. The policy objectives behind the name change are （1） constructing a community-based integrated care system and （2） spreading advanced care planning （ACP）, such as end-of-life family meetings. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical care is focused on responding to global health challenges that transcend individuals, families, and communities. Furthermore, adequate ACP has become difficult because of the pandemic, given the difficulties in infection management. 　　Such uncertainty in end-of-life care shows that life and death are situated in a historical world that cannot help but be constrained by the events that arise therein. However, amidst all this, nurses continue to explore and create new end-of-life care strategies based on current infection management policies. For nurses trying to forge a new path forward despite the uncertainty they face, Nishida’s philosophy of place could offer some new perspective, since it regards human existence as socio-historical and as an element of the creative world.