My death nearing its future: a Heideggerian hermeneutical analysis of the lived experience of persons with chronic illness.

Although over 50% of individuals over the age of 65 live with at least one chronic illness, little research has been conducted on the individual lived experience. For this phenomenological study, 12 individuals living with any long-term illness participated in extended, non-structured, audio-recorded interviews. Resulting verbatim transcripts were analysed hermeneutically using Heideggerian phenomenology as the philosophical framework. The pattern 'my death nearing its future' emerged from this research. The understandings gained from these individual narratives provide important insight for all individuals interacting with persons living with chronic illness.