It might seem odd to talk about “innovations in dying,” but in recent decades the hospice movement has become an important new pathway for the most difficult phase of life. As American health care has become ever more high-tech and expensive, the hospice model of home-based care for terminally ill patients has enabled millions of […]
‘No One Is Coming’: Hospice Patients Abandoned At Death’s Door
WASILLA, Alaska — As her husband lay moaning in pain from the cancer riddling his body, Patricia Martin searched frantically through his medical bag, looking for a syringe. She had already called the hospice twice, demanding liquid methadone to ease the agony of Dr. Robert Martin, 66. A family practice physician known to everyone as […]
We must take steps to gain control over how we die
FELICE J. FREYER’S article “Wish to die at home often goes unmet” (Page A1, Nov. 3), describing how many Massachusetts citizens end up dying in the hospital, points out the troubling disconnect between how people wish to live their last days and how they actually do. When surveyed, 70 percent of Americans, including doctors and […]
Hospice Chaplain Reflects On Life, Death And The ‘Strength Of The Human Soul’
As a hospice chaplain, it’s Kerry Egan’s job to help dying people accept their own mortality. Sometimes that means sitting with them as they express their regrets and fears. Other times, she listens as they recount their life stories and reflect on the experiences that brought them joy. “There’s no time to preach or teach,” […]