First Advisor
Tina Burdsall
Date of Award
Spring 2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors
Department
Psychology
Language
English
Subjects
queer, LGBTQ+, end-of-life, palliative care, chosen family
Abstract
This thesis seeks to explore end-of-life care experiences of queer families, focusing on interactions with palliative and hospice caregivers. Currently, end-of-life (EOL) practitioners in institutional and medical care settings are often poorly equipped to interact with queer families due to inadequate cultural training models, personal biases, and ignorance regarding the queer identities of their clients. This manifests in substantial inequities within deathcare systems regarding the accommodation of the unique needs of queer familial structures. Drawing upon multidisciplinary scholarship, I sought to examine these needs, which diverge from that of heterosexual families due to queer families’ absence of legal protections and diverse structures which often decenter biological family as well as romantic partnerships. Having established the existence of this gap in equitable care, I then utilized prior research to explore alternative EOL care modalities, namely community care models and the introduction of supplemental caregivers such as end-of-life doulas (EOLDs). This scholarship emphasizes the need for continued reform of current mainstream institutional as well as medical EOL care settings and provider training programs to improve the experiences of queer clients. Furthermore, I argue that alternative EOL care modalities may uniquely lend themselves to the care of queer families and invite further inquiry into the integration of such care structures with more conventional institutional EOL care practices.
Recommended Citation
Peck, Nyssa K., "An Equitable End: Meeting the Needs of Queer Families Within Deathcare" (2025). University Honors Theses. Paper 1635.