The pendulum words of Qvarnström and dying in relation to awareness, fear and time; a theoretical analysis.

Background: Within palliative care there has long been the theory of commuting or pendulum, often described as commuting between single words as opposite poles. The theoretical understanding of the pendulum phenomenon has long been prevalent, for example with the model of Qvarnström. Inconsistencies have been found in the model, leading to a deeper analysis. Method: Theoretical analysis. Preliminary results: The work is in progress, but possibly a more complex model may need to be developed that is more indicative of process thinking.