End-of-life issues have been taking up more of the news lately. There seems to be a growing concern about eliminating the pain and discomfort that may come during the last days, weeks or months of a person's life. Well, nobody relishes seeing a loved one enduring any kind of suffering, and we all have the duty to do our part in alleviating suffering whether it is the kind an impoverished family experiences, or the sort that a seriously ill person goes through.

Dr. Ira Byock, who's had a wealth of experience in hospice care, shares the following on being more responsive to the needs of one who is on his final passage, as well as on empowering families who are accompanying such a person:

“Through my years as a hospice doctor, I have learned that dying does not have to be agonizing. Physical suffering can always be alleviated. People need not die alone: many times the calm, caring presence of another can soothe a dying person’s anguish. I think it is realistic to hope for a future in which nobody has to die alone and nobody has to die with his pain untreated. But comfort and companionship are not all there is. I have learned from my patients and their families a surprising truth about dying: this stage of life holds remarkable possibilities. Despite the arduous nature of the experience, when people are relatively comfortable and know that they are not going to be abandoned, they frequently find ways to strengthen bonds with people they love and to create profound meaning in their final passage.”

Dr. Ira Byock is a long time palliative care physician and advocate for improved end-of-life care. He is also a past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and provides written resources and referrals to organizations, web sites and books to empower persons with life threatening illness and their families to live fully.

Dr. Byock is Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Professor of Anesthesiology and Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Board certifications include Family Practice, Emergency Medicine (1988-1998) and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Nationally, Dr. Byock directs the Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care national grant and technical assistance program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He energetically advocates for improved access, quality of care and family support. His first book, Dying Well (Putnam/Riverside, 1997), has become a core reading on the subject. He has co-authored A Few Months to Live (Georgetown University Press, 2001) and co-edited Palliative and End-of-Life Pearls (Hanley & Belfus, 2002), a collection of clinical case studies. His latest book, The Four Things That Matter Most, is written for the general public and is published in 2004 by The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster.

For more resources on palliative care, you may check out

Life's End Institute.

posted by sunnyday at 12:02 AM

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