Hospice helps patients face end of life with dignity

During the recent debate on Health Care Reform, the use of the very emotional term "death panel" hijacked the important discussion that we need to have about end of life care. One of the most vital parts of this discussion is hospice care - a segment of health care that, like the term death panel, is shrouded in misunderstanding.

Hospice, considered the model for quality, compassionate care at the end of life, is based on comfort rather than cure. As we near the end of life, many of us will be faced with a life-limiting illness - the treatment of which can often be more agonizing than the disease itself. Hospice gives us the option to forgo such treatment and live the remaining months and days of our life at home, free of pain and, most importantly, with dignity.

What is hospice?

Once hospice is selected, you will be assigned a team of care providers that will act as a support system for your primary caregiver. This team consists of the hospice's medical director, your physician, a hospice nurse, social worker, chaplain, home health aide, volunteer, bereavement coordinator and pharmacist. This team will provide care wherever you call home - in your own home, assisted living, group home, or extended care facility.

Why is hospice important?

Hospice is important for two key reasons. First, most Americans say that they don't want to take extraordinary measures during the last few months of life, and that they'd prefer to die at home. In reality, 75 percent of Americans die in hospital settings, many of them dependent on a machine to keep them alive - obviously a huge emotional cost for all involved.

Secondly, there is a huge financial cost associated with dying in the U.S. Billions of dollars are spent every year on treatments that are not shown to increase the quality or quantity of life. It may be a surprise to learn that a study of 5,000 terminally ill patients demonstrated that those who received hospice care lived an average of one month longer than their non-hospice counterparts. Most importantly, those days were of substantially higher quality-at home surrounded by loved ones, free of pain, and with dignity.

Food for thought

As we have all had the gift of being born into this world, so too will we experience the miracle of leaving it. For those of us with a life-limiting illness, hospice care allows us the choice to redefine what "hope" means to us when a cure is no longer an option.

Today, instead of allowing loaded terms to blind us by partisan divisiveness, let's choose instead to use them as a chance to open up the dialogue on end-of-life issues.

With National Hospice and Palliative Care Day Oct. 11 just behind us, what better time than now to begin this conversation.

• Lindsey Gray, MPH, is the community outreach and education coordinator for Saint Mary's Hospice of Northern Nevada. Contact her at 775-770-6003.