According to the author, Dolores Dooley, the public sphere is ready to talk about death and the processes of dying. The author points out in the article Conversations with the Irish public about death and dying (2009), for a basic change in how we die and how we understand this process. This change, for the author, has implications both in the patient and family expectations and in the role of health professionals in cases of terminal illnesses. Because of the plurality of values typical of the contemporary period, there is no single conception of what it means to die well and as a consequence, there is no single way to treat dying patients and how to care for their family members. However, something that looms under the horizon, according to the author, is that the patient's wishes must be taken into account what he considers a death with dignity.
