When I looked it up, I thought, 'Oh, it’s about helping people at the end of their lives. ' My
dissertation focused on cancer patients’ experiences — not dying from it, but living with it. So, I immediately felt a connection to the idea of palliative care.
Then, by some miracle, in December 2010, I was offered a researcher position at the LMU Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Care. And that’s where my journey into palliative care truly began.
Of course, I had already been studying human experiences of illness for a long time, but at that point, the term 'palliative care ' was still new to me. I was familiar with the word 'hospice because Finnish cancer patients had told me about hospices in their cancer journeys. However, I’ve often shared that the concept of palliative care did not exist in Finland then. There were some pioneers, like
Dr. Tiina Saarto, but the actual developments in Finnish palliative care occurred only after I`d completed my dissertation in 2011.
So, that’s how it all began. And now, it’s been 15 years since I first entered this field.
Ksenia:And you stayed in this field — you remained in palliative care. What influenced your decision to stay?
Piret:It may be the feeling that my competencies as an anthropologist were unique in this interdisciplinary field. In palliative care — especially in the countries where it is referred to as palliative medicine — physicians play a central role. And while they have a broad scope of practice, their focus remains heavily centred on symptom control and pain management. The majority of papers published in academic journals focus on
medical issues.
I found that I was able to develop strong connections with other professionals in the field, including chaplains, nurses, psychologists, and many others. Palliative care has always been a deeply interdisciplinary field, and my anthropological perspective became my distinct strength. Understanding the human experience — how illness is shaped by culture, language, and discourse — is not necessarily the strength of those specialising in symptom control. My expertise in this area fits nicely into the broader landscape of palliative care.
That said, I have also considered other career paths. For instance, if I had pursued sports medicine, I would have been equally passionate about that field. Sports also encompass existential crises — when an athlete’s body breaks down due to injuries and when they must find the motivation to rebuild.