‘Giving and giving back’ at the end-of-life: Reciprocal investments between caregivers and residents in the Swiss nursing home context

Abstract

The present article is based on an ethnographic research project exploring the constitution and reproduction of exchange relationships between residents and caregivers in Swiss nursing homes and elaborating on their significance within end-of-life trajectories. The results show that despite scarce personnel, time and cost resources in old-age long-term care, exchange relationships in the sense of non-liquidating transactions are of major significance both in daily interactions and in the context of acute dying in the nursing home. Res Show more