Els Van Wijngaarden
Biographic Data
| ID | 139497 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Els Van Wijngaarden |
| GIVEN NAMES | Els |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Wijngaarden |
| SIGNATURE | VAN WIJNGAARDEN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Radboud University Nijmegen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2940-9163 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 63 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Dying in the margins? A hermeneutical and phenomenological reflection on liminality and paradoxes
Adrift in life: A longitudinal qualitative study into the lived experience of persistent suicidality
BACKGROUND: Despite growing scholarly interest in persistent or chronic suicidality, the lived experience and the meaning of being persistently suicidal remain inadequately understood. Therefore, this study longitudinally examines the lived experience of individuals with persistent suicidality. METHODS: This study entails a phenomenological, longitudinal analysis of serial interviews with 10 participants with lived experience of persistent suicid…
Presence and procedure: Experiencing relationality between patients, relatives and healthcare professionals in Dutch euthanasia requests
BACKGROUND: In Dutch euthanasia practice, the relationship between healthcare professionals, patients, and, when present, the patient's close circle plays an important role. However, neither the Dutch Euthanasia Act nor current guidelines or empirical studies provide detailed insight into how these actors navigate the process or experience decision-making. Therefore, we aim to explore how these relationships are experienced throughout the euthana…
How choice became a goal in itself: Analysing the emphasis on choice and control at the end of life through the work of Charles Taylor
Choice has become a defining lens through which modern people imagine dying. A 'good death' is increasingly associated with the ability to articulate and realise personal preferences regarding the dying process: how, where, with whom, and even when one dies. In this paper, I examine the cultural shift that has elevated choice to a central moral ideal at the end of life. My research questions are: Why does choice matter so profoundly in contempora…
Belgian and U.S. Older Adults’ Lay Perspectives on ‘Tiredness of Life’
Unravelling the meaning of suffering in the context of euthanasia and assisted suicide: A Multiperspective Meta-Ethnography
Contains fulltext : 320677.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access
Unfolding Hidden Narratives: Glimpses of an Ethos of Senses in a Dementia‐Care Facility
In this essay, I explore the possibility of meaningful communication and genuine connection within dementia‐care settings, and particularly among those living with advanced dementia. Drawing on empirical research and informed by the phenomenology of Bernhard Waldenfels, I aim to challenge dominant cultural narratives that reduce dementia‐care institutions to places of confinement and loss. I propose an approach that affirms the irreducible othern…
Wavering between life and death: A qualitative study into the perceived causes and needs of persons with persistent suicidality
Care for individuals with persistent suicidality should not focus solely on recovery but also on the acceptance and managing of suicidal thoughts. Effective care strategies may include teaching alternative coping and communication methods. The findings underscore the need for continuity of care and emphasize the importance of addressing non-disclosure and transference-countertransference dynamics in therapy
Embracing ambivalence and hesitation: A Ricoeurian perspective on anticipatory choice processes at the end of life
Especially older adults are increasingly stimulated to think about, talk about and record their preferences with regard to future (health)care decisions, preferably in a pro-active manner. In this paper, I analyse these anticipatory choice processes. My goal is twofold: Firstly, to provide a deeper understanding of what it actually means to decide in advance about end-of-life treatments or options. Secondly, to make a theoretical contribution to …
Requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide of people without (severe) illness
BACKGROUND: Some people request euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) even though they are not (severely) ill. In the Netherlands the presence of sufficient medical ground for the suffering is a strict prerequisite for EAS. The desirability of this 'medical ground'-boundary is currently questioned. Legislation has been proposed to facilitate EAS for older persons with "completed life" or "tiredness of life" in the absence of (severe) illness. OBJE…
Turning grey is not a black-and-white experience: A phenomenological study on the lived experience of old age among Dutch Franciscan friars
I want to die on my own terms: Dominant interpretative repertoires of 'a good death' in old age in Dutch newspapers
The Darker Side of Ageing: Towards an Ethics of Suffering that Emphasises the Primacy of Witnessing
Many older adults succeed in finding meaning in life, even in deep old age. There is, however, a minority of older adults, in particular among the oldest old, who feel that life no longer makes sense: they suffer from the consequences of old age, explicated in feelings of loneliness, social isolation and disconnectedness, and fears for (further) decline and dependency. This article seeks to address this darker side of ageing. It discusses probing…
Still ready to give up on life? A longitudinal phenomenological study into wishes to die among older adults
A Captive, a Wreck, a Piece of Dirt: Aging Anxieties Embodied in Older People With a Death Wish
The aims of this present study were to explore the use and meaning of metaphors and images about aging in older people with a death wish and to elucidate what these metaphors and images tell us about their self-understanding and imagined feared future. Twenty-five in-depth interviews with Dutch older people with a death wish (median 82 years) were analyzed by making use of a phenomenological-hermeneutical metaphor analysis approach. We found 10 c…
Ethical uneasiness and the need for open-ended reflexivity: The case of research into older people with a wish to die
This article focuses on research ethics in highly intimate research with possible impact on life and death. In order to stimulate an open-ended dialogue about research ethics, we reflect on four ethical challenges that came up during our research into older people with a wish to die. Drawing on our experiences, we discuss (1) the possibly confirming influence of our research on the death wish (moral experience of whether or not to disregard respo…
The social–political challenges behind the wish to die in older people who consider their lives to be completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, physician-assisted dying has been legalized since 2002. Currently, an increasing number of Dutch citizens are in favour of a more relaxed interpretation of the law. Based on an ethos of self-determination and autonomy, there is a strong political lobby for the legal right to assisted dying when life is considered to be completed and no longer worth living. Building on previous empirical research, this article provides a critic…
Researching Health Care as a Meaningful Practice: Toward a Nondualistic View on Evidence for Qualitative Research
Being able to describe how research findings become evidence is crucial in providing a justification for all kinds of research findings. However, qualitative researchers in health care, including those who conduct phenomenological research, are usually fairly modest when it comes qualifying their research findings as such. We advocate a view of evidence for phenomenological research, an approach that is rooted in philosophy of science, including …
Ready to give up on life: The lived experience of elderly people who feel life is completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, there has been much debate on the question whether elderly people over 70 who are tired of life and who consider their life to be completed, should have legal options to ask for assisted dying. So far there has been little research into the experiences of these elderly people. In order to develop deliberate policy and care that targets this group of elderly people, it is necessary to understand their lifeworld. The aim of this…
Experiences and Motivations Underlying Wishes to Die in Older People Who Are Tired of Living: A Research Area in its Infancy
The wish to die in older people who are tired of living and the possibilities to organize death are currently being discussed within the debate on self-determination and physician-assisted suicide. Until now insight into the experiences and thoughts of people who are tired of life but not suffering from a severe depression or a life-threatening disease is lacking. Studies focussing specifically on this topic are rare. This review provides an over…
Ready to give up on life: The lived experience of elderly people who feel life is completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, there has been much debate on the question whether elderly people over 70 who are tired of life and who consider their life to be completed, should have legal options to ask for assisted dying. So far there has been little research into the experiences of these elderly people. In order to develop deliberate policy and care that targets this group of elderly people, it is necessary to understand their lifeworld. The aim of this…
Researching Health Care as a Meaningful Practice: Toward a Nondualistic View on Evidence for Qualitative Research
Being able to describe how research findings become evidence is crucial in providing a justification for all kinds of research findings. However, qualitative researchers in health care, including those who conduct phenomenological research, are usually fairly modest when it comes qualifying their research findings as such. We advocate a view of evidence for phenomenological research, an approach that is rooted in philosophy of science, including …
Experiences and Motivations Underlying Wishes to Die in Older People Who Are Tired of Living: A Research Area in its Infancy
The wish to die in older people who are tired of living and the possibilities to organize death are currently being discussed within the debate on self-determination and physician-assisted suicide. Until now insight into the experiences and thoughts of people who are tired of life but not suffering from a severe depression or a life-threatening disease is lacking. Studies focussing specifically on this topic are rare. This review provides an over…
I want to die on my own terms: Dominant interpretative repertoires of 'a good death' in old age in Dutch newspapers
Ethical uneasiness and the need for open-ended reflexivity: The case of research into older people with a wish to die
This article focuses on research ethics in highly intimate research with possible impact on life and death. In order to stimulate an open-ended dialogue about research ethics, we reflect on four ethical challenges that came up during our research into older people with a wish to die. Drawing on our experiences, we discuss (1) the possibly confirming influence of our research on the death wish (moral experience of whether or not to disregard respo…
The social–political challenges behind the wish to die in older people who consider their lives to be completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, physician-assisted dying has been legalized since 2002. Currently, an increasing number of Dutch citizens are in favour of a more relaxed interpretation of the law. Based on an ethos of self-determination and autonomy, there is a strong political lobby for the legal right to assisted dying when life is considered to be completed and no longer worth living. Building on previous empirical research, this article provides a critic…
Unravelling the meaning of suffering in the context of euthanasia and assisted suicide: A Multiperspective Meta-Ethnography
Contains fulltext : 320677.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access
The Darker Side of Ageing: Towards an Ethics of Suffering that Emphasises the Primacy of Witnessing
Many older adults succeed in finding meaning in life, even in deep old age. There is, however, a minority of older adults, in particular among the oldest old, who feel that life no longer makes sense: they suffer from the consequences of old age, explicated in feelings of loneliness, social isolation and disconnectedness, and fears for (further) decline and dependency. This article seeks to address this darker side of ageing. It discusses probing…
Still ready to give up on life? A longitudinal phenomenological study into wishes to die among older adults
Experiences and Motivations Underlying Wishes to Die in Older People Who Are Tired of Living: A Research Area in its Infancy
The wish to die in older people who are tired of living and the possibilities to organize death are currently being discussed within the debate on self-determination and physician-assisted suicide. Until now insight into the experiences and thoughts of people who are tired of life but not suffering from a severe depression or a life-threatening disease is lacking. Studies focussing specifically on this topic are rare. This review provides an over…
Ready to give up on life: The lived experience of elderly people who feel life is completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, there has been much debate on the question whether elderly people over 70 who are tired of life and who consider their life to be completed, should have legal options to ask for assisted dying. So far there has been little research into the experiences of these elderly people. In order to develop deliberate policy and care that targets this group of elderly people, it is necessary to understand their lifeworld. The aim of this…
A Captive, a Wreck, a Piece of Dirt: Aging Anxieties Embodied in Older People With a Death Wish
The aims of this present study were to explore the use and meaning of metaphors and images about aging in older people with a death wish and to elucidate what these metaphors and images tell us about their self-understanding and imagined feared future. Twenty-five in-depth interviews with Dutch older people with a death wish (median 82 years) were analyzed by making use of a phenomenological-hermeneutical metaphor analysis approach. We found 10 c…
Ethical uneasiness and the need for open-ended reflexivity: The case of research into older people with a wish to die
This article focuses on research ethics in highly intimate research with possible impact on life and death. In order to stimulate an open-ended dialogue about research ethics, we reflect on four ethical challenges that came up during our research into older people with a wish to die. Drawing on our experiences, we discuss (1) the possibly confirming influence of our research on the death wish (moral experience of whether or not to disregard respo…
The social–political challenges behind the wish to die in older people who consider their lives to be completed and no longer worth living
In the Netherlands, physician-assisted dying has been legalized since 2002. Currently, an increasing number of Dutch citizens are in favour of a more relaxed interpretation of the law. Based on an ethos of self-determination and autonomy, there is a strong political lobby for the legal right to assisted dying when life is considered to be completed and no longer worth living. Building on previous empirical research, this article provides a critic…
Researching Health Care as a Meaningful Practice: Toward a Nondualistic View on Evidence for Qualitative Research
Being able to describe how research findings become evidence is crucial in providing a justification for all kinds of research findings. However, qualitative researchers in health care, including those who conduct phenomenological research, are usually fairly modest when it comes qualifying their research findings as such. We advocate a view of evidence for phenomenological research, an approach that is rooted in philosophy of science, including …
The Darker Side of Ageing: Towards an Ethics of Suffering that Emphasises the Primacy of Witnessing
Many older adults succeed in finding meaning in life, even in deep old age. There is, however, a minority of older adults, in particular among the oldest old, who feel that life no longer makes sense: they suffer from the consequences of old age, explicated in feelings of loneliness, social isolation and disconnectedness, and fears for (further) decline and dependency. This article seeks to address this darker side of ageing. It discusses probing…
Still ready to give up on life? A longitudinal phenomenological study into wishes to die among older adults
Requests for euthanasia or assisted suicide of people without (severe) illness
BACKGROUND: Some people request euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) even though they are not (severely) ill. In the Netherlands the presence of sufficient medical ground for the suffering is a strict prerequisite for EAS. The desirability of this 'medical ground'-boundary is currently questioned. Legislation has been proposed to facilitate EAS for older persons with "completed life" or "tiredness of life" in the absence of (severe) illness. OBJE…
Turning grey is not a black-and-white experience: A phenomenological study on the lived experience of old age among Dutch Franciscan friars
I want to die on my own terms: Dominant interpretative repertoires of 'a good death' in old age in Dutch newspapers
Embracing ambivalence and hesitation: A Ricoeurian perspective on anticipatory choice processes at the end of life
Especially older adults are increasingly stimulated to think about, talk about and record their preferences with regard to future (health)care decisions, preferably in a pro-active manner. In this paper, I analyse these anticipatory choice processes. My goal is twofold: Firstly, to provide a deeper understanding of what it actually means to decide in advance about end-of-life treatments or options. Secondly, to make a theoretical contribution to …
Unfolding Hidden Narratives: Glimpses of an Ethos of Senses in a Dementia‐Care Facility
In this essay, I explore the possibility of meaningful communication and genuine connection within dementia‐care settings, and particularly among those living with advanced dementia. Drawing on empirical research and informed by the phenomenology of Bernhard Waldenfels, I aim to challenge dominant cultural narratives that reduce dementia‐care institutions to places of confinement and loss. I propose an approach that affirms the irreducible othern…
Wavering between life and death: A qualitative study into the perceived causes and needs of persons with persistent suicidality
Care for individuals with persistent suicidality should not focus solely on recovery but also on the acceptance and managing of suicidal thoughts. Effective care strategies may include teaching alternative coping and communication methods. The findings underscore the need for continuity of care and emphasize the importance of addressing non-disclosure and transference-countertransference dynamics in therapy
Dying in the margins? A hermeneutical and phenomenological reflection on liminality and paradoxes
Adrift in life: A longitudinal qualitative study into the lived experience of persistent suicidality
BACKGROUND: Despite growing scholarly interest in persistent or chronic suicidality, the lived experience and the meaning of being persistently suicidal remain inadequately understood. Therefore, this study longitudinally examines the lived experience of individuals with persistent suicidality. METHODS: This study entails a phenomenological, longitudinal analysis of serial interviews with 10 participants with lived experience of persistent suicid…
Presence and procedure: Experiencing relationality between patients, relatives and healthcare professionals in Dutch euthanasia requests
BACKGROUND: In Dutch euthanasia practice, the relationship between healthcare professionals, patients, and, when present, the patient's close circle plays an important role. However, neither the Dutch Euthanasia Act nor current guidelines or empirical studies provide detailed insight into how these actors navigate the process or experience decision-making. Therefore, we aim to explore how these relationships are experienced throughout the euthana…
How choice became a goal in itself: Analysing the emphasis on choice and control at the end of life through the work of Charles Taylor
Choice has become a defining lens through which modern people imagine dying. A 'good death' is increasingly associated with the ability to articulate and realise personal preferences regarding the dying process: how, where, with whom, and even when one dies. In this paper, I examine the cultural shift that has elevated choice to a central moral ideal at the end of life. My research questions are: Why does choice matter so profoundly in contempora…
Belgian and U.S. Older Adults’ Lay Perspectives on ‘Tiredness of Life’
Unravelling the meaning of suffering in the context of euthanasia and assisted suicide: A Multiperspective Meta-Ethnography
Contains fulltext : 320677.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access
Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues (12 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Aging and Gerontology Research (5 works) · Law (5 works)