TRAJECT

People can live in relatively good health until late in life. For many, old age is a positive period of life, with enriching relationships and activities and good well-being. However, many older people are also at risk of developing one or several serious chronic illnesses predisposing them to a last phase of life that is marked by long periods of illness and complex fluctuations in their physical health and in their social, psychological and existential well-being.

The TRAJECT project aims to achieve groundbreaking insights into these end-of-life trajectories using quantitative methods from epidemiology and narrative (storytelling) methods from social anthropology. Our research seeks to deepen our understanding of shared patterns and unique experiences as older people near the end of life, and of the various circumstances that shape their health and illness journeys. These new insights will have a fundamental scientific as well as clinical impact. Among others, they will provide a much-needed evidence base for needs assessment, palliative care practice and health service planning, and ultimately help improve the well-being of older adults at the end of life.