Dying Well

I read something interesting on the NPR website by a Dr. Ira Byock who works in hospice care. Dr. Byock believes in the idea of life long human development. This applies to people at the end of their lives as well and he points out that the developmental milestones of people at the end of life are remarkably similar to the developmental milestones of toddlers.
He writes, “Someone who is dying, like the developing child, goes through stages of discovery, insight, and adjustment to constantly changing circumstances in his person and in the ways people react to him. People who are dying often feel a sense of constant pressure to adapt to unwanted change.” Each day brings new changes and the world can seem like a very scary place. For many elderly people, their world becomes very small. They may no longer drive or feel physically able to go out. They are now dependent on others to do for them what they could once do for themselves.

More interesting information from the NHPCO webstite:

"The term “hospice” (from the same linguistic root as “hospitality”) can be traced back to medieval times when it referred to a place of shelter and rest for weary or ill travelers on a long journey. The name was first applied to specialized care for dying patients in 1967 by physician Dame Cicely Saunders, who founded the first modern hospice—St. Christopher’s Hospice—in a residential suburb of London."

What is your definition of dying well? For many of us that would mean not dying in a hospital or dying in pain. Hospice care has made that possible and we have Dame Cicely Saunders to thank.