END-OF-LIFE CARE PLANNING IS VALUED BY PATIENTS, BUT NOT WIDELY ACCESSIBLE

NOVEMBER 30, 2015 BY SHANNON MCGUE

By Shannon McGue

How people approach the end of life has changed greatly in recent years, but medical care at the end of life still proceeds in much the same way. Medical advances allow people to be kept alive even as their bodies become extremely frail, pushing back the limit beyond which health care is certain to have no power to extend life. Changes in decision making have not kept pace with these technological advances, so that end of life care often does not live up to its potential of enabling each person to face aging and death with dignity. We need to reexamine how people’s goals and preferences can be reflected in their medical care.

Read more.

FILED UNDER: BLOG