ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers to the concept of life review as a therapeutic intervention in palliative care. It explores the rationale for undertaking structured life review with people who have a life-threatening illness. It concentrates on the advantages of both reminiscence and life review. The chapter considers the potential benefits of the implementation of life review in the field of palliative care. It demonstrates that despite the fact that several authors advocated the use of life review within the context of palliative care during the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, very little appears to have been taken forward in this respect. The chapter discusses Erikson's psychoanalytical stage of ego integrity vs. despair. It discusses the rationale for offering life review to people with a life-threatening illness and considers the educational requirements of healthcare professionals prior to implementing life review.
