Death stories: acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The underlying premise of narrative research within social science literature is the belief that individuals most effectively make sense of their world by (re)constructing stories. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive degenerative respiratory disorder that affects approximately 15% of Canadians annually. Prior to the study discussed in this article, no research had been done to understand the frightening event of an acute exacerbation episode of COPD from the perspective of patients and their family caregivers. Hence, 10 family-nurse units were interviewed during an acute exacerbation event. The participants told a number of near-death and shadow-of-death stories that describe these episodes as life changing and illustrate the centrality of these events in the participants' understanding of their chronic illness.