Hospice care puts patients in control


A recent Blade editorial questioned whether end-of-life care has been sufficiently improved since Jack Kevorkian was imprisoned eight years ago, and speculated that - with 75 million baby boomers entering their 60s - the right-to-die movement may regain momentum.

Relatively speaking, very few people have chosen physician-assisted suicide as a way to control their destinies. Even in Oregon where it is now legal. Instead, millions have turned to hospice care for the medical expertise and support they need to have a comfortable, meaningful, end-of-life experience.

Hospice care addresses what patients fear most at the end of life: being in pain, being alone, and becoming a physical or financial burden on their families. Regardless of a person's age, illness, or income, it provides highly specialized pain and symptom management and further addresses suffering with emotional and spiritual support for the entire family. Patients determine where they will be cared for and just how much care they wish to receive. They share their goals for their final months and the hospice team does everything possible to help them achieve them. Even patients as debilitated as the one with Lou Gehrig's disease, who was featured in the 60 Minutes story about Kevorkian, can find support, comfort, and control with hospice care.

Thankfully, hospice is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most commercial insurance and, in the case of Hospice of Northwest Ohio, no one is turned away due to inability to pay. Anyone in the final stages of any disease - especially a long-term, chronic condition - can take control of the end-of-life experience with a timely call to Hospice.

Jackie Ayers

President of the Board
Hospice of Northwest Ohio

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