"hospice for everyone"
A while back, I waxed venomous about a hospital administrator who raised as a specter the idea of "hospice for everyone", which might result from cost control, rationing, or whatever bogey had crawled up their ass the day they were interviewed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01brod.html
Jane Brody's recent column on hospice suggests that hospice for everyone isn't something that people actually experiencing hospice think is all that bad. And the numbers support the idea that the kind of care people receive in hospice helps them live longer -- and much more comfortably and happily -- than expensive, hospital based interventions (or even the other stream of care in nursing homes -- granted, nursing homes have hospice options as well). True, these are not just the sickest in our population: they are clearly and unequivocally dying (altho, honestly, we all are, every day, we just don't like to think about it that way), and hard cases make bad law.
Still. Worth a read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01brod.html
Jane Brody's recent column on hospice suggests that hospice for everyone isn't something that people actually experiencing hospice think is all that bad. And the numbers support the idea that the kind of care people receive in hospice helps them live longer -- and much more comfortably and happily -- than expensive, hospital based interventions (or even the other stream of care in nursing homes -- granted, nursing homes have hospice options as well). True, these are not just the sickest in our population: they are clearly and unequivocally dying (altho, honestly, we all are, every day, we just don't like to think about it that way), and hard cases make bad law.
Still. Worth a read.