Silence as an element of care: A meta-ethnographic review of professional caregivers’ experience in clinical and pastoral settings:

Background:In interactions between professional caregivers, patients and family members at the end of life, silence often becomes more prevalent. Silence is acknowledged as integral to interpersonal communication and compassionate care but is also noted as a complex and ambiguous phenomenon. This review seeks interdisciplinary experience to deepen understanding of qualities of silence as an element of care.Aim:To search for published papers which describe professional caregivers’ experience of silence as an element of care, in palliative and other clinical, spiritual and pastoral care settings and to synthesise their findings.Design:Meta-ethnography: employing a systematic search strategy and line-of-argument synthesis.Data sources:PsycINFO and seven other cross-disciplinary databases, supplemented by hand-search, review of reference lists and citation tracking. No date range was imposed. Inclusion criteria focused on reported experience of silence in professional caregiving. Selected papers (n = 18) were...