Your loved one might become clear-headed in their final days, hours, or minutes. They may seem to have a surge of energy and alertness. This is called terminal lucidity, and doctors aren't sure why it happens. How long it lasts varies from person to person. Does a person know when th...
When is the Right Time to Stop Feeding a Hospice Patient? A dying patient’s needs for food and water are far different from those of a healthy, active person. As the end of life nears, the body gradually loses its ability to digest and process foods and liquids. As or...
Hospicecare is used when attempts to cure a patient’s terminal illness or condition are stopped and doctors believe the patient has less than six months to live. Like palliative care, hospice care provides symptom relief as much as possible. In many caregiving situations, hospice care is not ...
If you have a closer, more comfortable relationship with the person, consider reaching out in a more direct way with a phone call, an invitation to meet for lunch, or a plate of cookies dropped off with a hand-written note.* Of course, whether yours is a closer friendship or a more d...
Involuntary euthanasia is where the person is killed regardless of their own feelings in the matter. The panel of peers proposed replacing "unbearable" suffering, with "unrelievable" or "intractable" suffering or distress, also a clearer definition of mental competence. A conscience clause would ...
I’ve posted seldom since late October, when hospice staff told my aunt to make sure all the family visited within two to three weeks. They didn’t expect my uncle to be with us longer. When I got the call, my aunt’s soft voice delivered that sentence in a three-fisted punch. The...
Hospice care may be involved if a patient is dying—or memory care, if a patient has dementia. Choosing a home for Mom or Dad can feel like a job in and of itself. Fortune spoke to experts in the eldercare economy, asking them what adult children should keep in mind when helping a ...
It may seem odd that a person could be happy as the end draws near, but in my experience as a clinical psychologist working with people at the end of their lives, it's not that uncommon. There is quite a lot of research suggesting thatfear of deathis at the unconscious center of bein...
Nothing makes this plainer than being in the presence of a dying person for any length of time. Death makes human beings seem like very small containers that are packed so densely we can only be aware of a fraction of what’s inside us from moment to moment. B...
follow if you have “tried everything under the sun.” Healing is within reach. Have hope, as those in Hospice have shown to us in their heroic efforts to forgive family members while those participants were on their deathbed. It is never too late to forgive. It is never too l...