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Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, 489-500 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732306298262
© 2007 SAGE Publications

Stepping Across the Line

Information Sharing, Truth Telling, and the Role of the Personal Carer in the Australian Nursing Home

Anthony G. Tuckett

University of Queensland, Australia

The author draws on an Australian study using multiple qualitative methods to investigate truth telling in aged care. Thematic analysis of data from five nursing homes involving 23 personal care assistants revealed participants' role understanding as influencing their perceptions about truth telling in practice. Five themes emerged: role as the happy comfort carer, division of labor, division of disclosure, role tension and frustration, and managing the division of disclosure. Role emphasis on comfort and happiness and a dominant perception that telling the truth can cause harm mean that disclosure will be withheld, edited, or partial. Participants'role understanding divides labor and disclosure responsibility between the personal carer and registered nurse. Personal carers' strategies for managing the division of disclosure include game playing, obfuscation, lying (denial), and the use of nonverbals. These perceptions about personal carer role, information sharing, and truth telling are paramount for understanding and improving nursing home eldercare.

Key Words: truth telling • disclosure • nursing home • Australia • role


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