Navigating at the Boundaries of Dying: Modes of Professional Deliberation

When is enough, enough? Dying in the 21^st century is marked by paradox. Healthcare systems worldwide are facing resource scarcity, yet an increasing number of patients receive treatment with limited benefits during their final days of life. Accordingly, professionals originally trained to cure disease are now being tasked with the responsibility of mitigating ‘bad dying’, and facilitating the beginning of the emerging and contemporary life course; ‘the end of life’. We don’t know enough about the challenges and potentials this task presents for health professionals such as oncologists and hematologists. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a theory on what we call ‘transition work’, i.e. a theory that offers insights and concepts to grasp and qualify the efforts of health professionals working at the boundaries of dying. In this endeavour, the project draws on sociological and philosophical traditions and zooms in on modes of professional deliberation in navigating at the boundaries of dying.