Family caregivers' advocacy in voluntary stopping of eating and drinking: A holistic multiple case study.

Family caregivers who could accept their loved one's wish to die stood up for the last will, especially when the cognitive abilities declined. They had to take on the role of an advocate to protect their self-determination from others who tried to interrupt the process. In their advocacy, they found themselves constantly in moral discrepancies. Usually without support, they provided nursing care until death. The subsequent processing phase was characterized by evaluating the dying situation and placing voluntary stopping of eating and drinking in their value scheme.