There is a great deal of discussion on the TV news shows concerning end of life concerns and the effect of the discussion on those involved (the identified patient and the family) The significant thing that we seem to have lost track of in the US is that death in NOT an unnatural event. Another point to keep firmly in mind is that the decision to treat or not to treat lies largely with the patient. Doctors are hard wired to try to treat patients and to keep people alive. Sometimes this overflows to an at all cost effort. There needs to be a balance treatment to promote healing versus treatment to prolong dying. Quantity versus quality is the ultimate question to be addressed by the patient, the family and the healthcare providers.
Attitudes toward death and dying shift over time and the discussion needs to be revisited from time to time. Remember that there will always be decisions to be made, the goal is to have a framework in place to provide guidance to the family if the patient is no longer able to be involved in the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment