De-identified verbatim transcripts that were used for the thematic analysis of the manuscript “Meaning of death among care workers of geriatric institutions in a death-avoidant culture: Qualitative descriptive analyses of in-depth interviews by Buddhist priests.”

Objective 

Care workers’ views of clients’ death have not been explored in Japan because of a cultural tendency to avoid talking openly about death. However, given the arising problems in end-of-life care settings, such as abuse and burnout, understanding care workers’ views regarding death is essential for designing effective interventions. We had two main research questions: Do care workers in Japan have their own ideas about death after working in the landscape of dying and death? Do these ideas influence care workers’ professional lives?

Methods 

We recruited interviewees based on a quantitative survey of care workers at 10 geriatric institutions in Tokyo. Among the 323 respondents, 23 survey respondents were willing to participate in an interview. After the scheduling process, nine individuals were able to participate in an in-depth interview. 

To overwhelm cultural avoidance regarding death that prevents care workers from talking openly about death, Buddhist priests conducted interviews in the current study. Physicians and researchers assisted the interviews.

Because this was exploratory studies in which little is known about the topic in question, we adapted a qualitative descriptive approach. 

This file is the discourses used in the thematic analyses in the manuscript “Meaning of death among care workers of geriatric institutions in a death-avoidant culture: Qualitative descriptive analyses of in-depth interviews by Buddhist priests.”