Social bioethics and transdisciplinary healthcare: an alternative proposal for palliative care

This study describes the steps for the construction of a communication environment for a multiprofessional healthcare team acting in a healthcare service for incurable patients. Beginning with discussions on ethical dilemmas concerning the healthcare team’s approach to death during home care and based on a human sciences theoretical framework – particularly social anthropology – a professional protocol was drawn up where the major interlocutors are the patient, his family, and care providers. Palliative care was critically discussed from a bioethical standpoint, as a fundamental element for social bioethics.