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Dying at home: What I learned from my husband’s death

Taylor, Maureen
http://healthydebate.ca/opinions/preparing_dying_home

Publisher:  healthydebate.ca
Date Written:  31/05/2017
Year Published:  2017  
Resource Type:  Article

A physician assistant reflects on the palliative care industry and the death of her husband. People need more information on the reality of death to be prepared to help loved ones die at home.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

According to a 2014 Harris/Decima survey, of those Canadians who express a preference for where they want to die, 75 percent say they want to die at home, surrounded by loved ones. Interestingly, another Canadian study found that those loved ones aren't quite as keen on the experience: half of the patients who said they wanted to die at home had family members who hoped the death would take place in an institution, like a palliative care unit. No matter: The majority (about 65 percent) die in a hospital, which isn’t anybody's first choice.

The palliative care and hospice community often use this data to advocate for more government funding of community supports, such as personal support workers, to help people die at home. And they're right that home care and palliative care access is too uneven across Canada and in urgent need of more funding.

But what we don't understand is how many of these hospitalizations at the end of life could be diverted with more nursing, more personal support workers, more respite for family caregivers. I believe that without better education around what’s involved in dying at home, extra resources won’t be enough.

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