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About
Why the Concern About Care at the End of Life?
Research data from end-of-life projects around the country tell us:
- Too many people spend their last days experiencing unnecessary pain.
- Too often, there is ambiguity about the patient’s wishes regarding when to switch from aggressive treatment to palliative care.
- One half or more of patients or their families report that physicians did not keep patients and family members informed and involved in decision making.
- Only about one third of the population have done advance care planning and prepared documents defining their wishes and designating a person to make health care decisions. And half the time such documents are not available when needed or are not heeded.
- Over 80% of respondents would like to die at home or in a hospice; only about 20% do so.
- In a Rhode Island survey of faith group members involved in end-of-life situations, only one-third said their place of worship does a good job of providing spiritual/religious counseling during illness and death.
Here’s how a Worcester surgeon and a Worcester civic leader joined to form Better Ending, a non-profit coalition that seeks to alleviate the concerns around end-of-life care. See The Worcester Response.
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