The Care of Deeply Significant Insignificant Things
An Ethnographic Study of Palliative Care in Malta
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4564487 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kurt Cassar (0009-0008-3008-2883, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 590-603 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0145-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-5882 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01459740.2025.2540530 |
| PMID | 40735929 |
| OpenAlex | W4412757729 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 23 |
In Malta, palliative care is often seen by nurses, policymakers and others as care of doing nothing. In my study, I demonstrate how nurses working in a palliative care unit attend to what, in the Maltese language, are called ċuċati: seemingly trivial acts that, even within palliative care, are often not recognized as legitimate forms of care, yet have a profound effect on patients' well-being. In this article, I highlight a paradoxical relationship between the ċuċati and formal recognition. Formal recognition, while providing a means to legitimization, also risks depersonalizing the ċuċati, potentially undermining nurses' intent to improve patients' well-being
Ethnography · Palliative care · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Legal and cultural studies analysis · Medicine · Nursing · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
Researcher Positionality - A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research - A New Researcher Guide
Cold technologies versus warm care?
Care in Practice
A Job with No Boundaries
Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research
Dementia and the Limits to Life
One more chemo or one too many? Defining the limits of treatment and innovation in medical oncology
"The consequence of "doing nothing
"We come in as "the nothing
The Fragility of Healing
Words to think with
A World of Standards but not a Standard World
Senses of care
"The Care of "Small Things
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |