Abstract 

Title: ”I am holdning her little hand, but soon it won´t be here anymore”: A qualitative study of social workers experience of working with dying clients or patients 

Titel: “Nu håller jag hennes lilla hand men snart kommer den inte finnas mer”: En kvalitativ studie om socialarbetares upplevelse av att arbeta med klienter eller patienter som dör. 

Author: Elsa Plynning

The aim of this study is to explore how social workers are affected by working with clients or patients who are dying, and to identify the factors that contribute to how they cope with these experiences. A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews combined with a hermeneutic perspective has been used. The theoretical perspectives used to analyse the material are Compassion fatigue and the theory of coping. The findings of this study align with previous research in the field and demonstrate that social workers are affected by the death of clients or patients. The study also indicate that difficult emotions can arise in those working with this issues and that certain signs of compassion fatigue are present, but can sometimes be prevented through the use of coping strategies.