"End-of-life care refers to health care provided in the time leading up to a person's death."
The ethical issues surrounding decision-making and care for patients who are nearing the end of their lives.
Palliative care: It is a type of care that focuses on relieving the symptoms and stress of serious illnesses.
Hospice care: It is specialized care for individuals who are nearing the end of their life with a focus on comfort and quality of life.
Pain management: This includes strategies and techniques to relieve pain and manage discomfort in individuals with illnesses or conditions.
Advance care planning: This involves making decisions about the type of care an individual would like to receive at the end of their life.
Ethical considerations: These include considerations related to patient autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice.
Bereavement support: This includes support and resources for individuals who are experiencing grief and loss.
Spiritual care: This involves providing support to individuals who have spiritual and religious beliefs.
Communication skills: This includes understanding how to effectively communicate with individuals and their families about end-of-life care decisions.
Cultural considerations: This includes understanding how individuals from different cultural backgrounds may approach end-of-life care.
Legal considerations: This includes understanding legal obligations and responsibilities related to end-of-life care, such as advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders.
Palliative care: This type of care is designed to relieve pain and other symptoms of a terminal illness. It is usually provided in a hospital or hospice setting and focuses on enhancing the quality of life for the patient.
Comfort care: Comfort care is similar to palliative care, but it also includes emotional and spiritual support for the patient and their family. It may involve counseling, chaplaincy services, and other forms of support.
Hospice care: Hospice care is specialized end-of-life care focused on patients who are nearing the end of their lives. Hospice care can be provided in a hospice facility or at the patient's home.
Active euthanasia: Active euthanasia is the intentional act of ending a patient’s life by a doctor, at the patient's request, in order to relieve unbearable suffering.
Assisted suicide: Assisted suicide is a medical procedure that allows patients to end their own lives with the help of a physician. The physician provides the necessary medication, but the patient must administer it themselves.
Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) orders: DNR orders are legal documents that allow patients to request that medical personnel not attempt to revive them if their heart or breathing stops.
Advance directives: Advance directives are legal documents that allow individuals to specify their preferences regarding medical treatment in the event that they are unable to make decisions for themselves at the end of their lives.
Withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment: This involves discontinuing medical treatments such as medications, dialysis, or mechanical ventilation that are keeping the patient alive. This is usually done when such treatments have become futile or burdensome.
Comfort feeding: This involves feeding the patient in order to provide them with comfort, rather than to sustain life. It is usually done when a patient has difficulty swallowing or cannot tolerate oral intake.
Slow euthanasia: This form of euthanasia involves withholding or providing insufficient medical treatment to increase the probability of death. It is usually done when the patient's suffering is terminal and there is no possibility of recovery.
"End-of-life care can be provided in the hours, days, or months before a person dies."
"End-of-life care encompasses care and support for a person's mental and emotional needs, physical comfort, spiritual needs, and practical tasks."
"EoLC is most commonly provided at home, in the hospital, or in a long-term care facility."
"Care being provided by family members, nurses, social workers, physicians, and other support staff."
"Facilities may also have palliative or hospice care teams that will provide end-of-life care services."
"Decisions about end-of-life care are often informed by medical, financial and ethical considerations."
"In most advanced countries, medical spending on people in the last twelve months of life makes up roughly 10% of total aggregate medical spending."
"Those in the last three years of life can cost up to 25%." (Note: The exact quote regarding the last three years of life is not provided in the paragraph, but this sentence provides a general idea.)
"…family members, nurses, social workers, physicians, and other support staff."
"…at home, in the hospital, or in a long-term care facility."
"…care and support for a person's mental and emotional needs, physical comfort, spiritual needs, and practical tasks."
"Palliative or hospice care teams will provide end-of-life care services."
"Decisions about end-of-life care are often informed by medical, financial and ethical considerations."
"To provide health care in the time leading up to a person's death."
"In the hours, days, or months before a person dies."
"…support for a person's spiritual needs."
"…roughly 10% of total aggregate medical spending."
"At home."
"Nurses, social workers, physicians, and other support staff."