What Hospices Cannot Do
Since I volunteer at the Community Hospice of Washington, most people assume I’m a particular fan of hospice care. And in many ways I am.
Hospices aren’t the dreary, depressing places a lot of them used to be. The in-patient units are great at relieving pain with super-charged meds. Home care patients are relieved to have the attention of nurses and volunteers who don’t talk down to them. The doctors aren’t — unlike most physicians — afraid of the dying.
In other words, there are far worse places to be. And in this country, trust me, there is also far worse medical care available for the healthy.
But here’s what a hospice cannot do:
It cannot help patients who wish to choose a speedy death over dying. Personally, I understand both options: these are individual choices, and the selection of dying over death (or vice versa) really depends on the fortitude and beliefs of the person afflicted — and also on the nature of the illness. Some illnesses, like some patients, are simply a lot tougher to take than others. And until I reach the finish line, I’m not going to rule out any options for myself.
A hospice also isn’t good at delivering advice. In fact its personnel work very hard at not giving personal advice — either to the dying or to their relatives and friends. So if you have questions about how to handle your squabbling heirs, or your sister whose visits leave you more depressed than before she arrived, don’t ask hospice personnel.
(Ask me on line: I’m used to those questions on thecheckoutline.org. But during my hospice volunteer hours, I too am not allowed to answer those sorts of queries from patients. It can be frustrating).
And finally — and this is a very serious issue, which I will deal with at greater length pretty soon — there is no kind of consumer study of hospices available as of this writing. What this means is: good, bad or indifferent, there’s no way you find out about your community hospice as yet. The American Hospice Foundation is currently conducting a nationwide study. But it won’t be ready until 2010.
So sit tight. And don’t hold your breath.
