The document discusses various topics related to death, dying, and grieving. It covers the historical changes in how death is viewed and addressed in the U.S., how death is determined, end-of-life planning tools like advance directives and living wills, perspectives on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, hospice care, cultural views of death and grieving, Kübler-Ross's stages of dying, and losing a life partner. The document provides information on these topics to help understand psychological and social aspects of approaching the end of life.
Life expectancy increased since 1900s when most people died at home and were cared for by relatives. Now, more people die in hospitals and minimized our exposure to death & painful experiences related to caring for a dying relative.
How can I write an advance directive?
You can write an advance directive in several ways:
Use a form provided by your doctor.
Write your wishes down by yourself.
Call your health department or state department on aging to get a form.
Call a lawyer.
Use a computer software package for legal documents.
Advance directives and living wills do not have to be complicated legal documents. They can be short, simple statements about what you want done or not done if you can't speak for yourself. Remember, anything you write by yourself or with a computer software package should follow your state laws. You may also want to have what you have written reviewed by your doctor or a lawyer to make sure your directives are understood exactly as you intended. When you are satisfied with your directives, the orders should be notarized if possible, and copies should be given to your family and your doctor.
Living wills and other advance directives describe your preferences regarding treatment if you're faced with a serious accident or illness. These legal documents speak for you when you're not able to speak for yourself — for instance, if you're in a coma.
Living wills and other advance directives aren't just for older adults. Unexpected end-of-life situations can happen at any age, so it's important for all adults to have advance directives.
Living will. This written, legal document spells out the types of medical treatments and life-sustaining measures you do and don't want, such as mechanical breathing (respiration and ventilation), tube feeding or resuscitation. In some states, living wills may be called health care declarations or health care directives.
Medical power of attorney (POA). The medical POA is a legal document that designates an individual — referred to as your health care agent or proxy — to make medical decisions for you in the event that you're unable to do so. A medical POA is sometimes called a durable power of attorney for health care. However, it is different from a power of attorney authorizing someone to make financial transactions for you.
Do not resuscitate (DNR) order. This is a request to not have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. Advance directives do not have to include a DNR order, and you don't have to have an advance directive to have a DNR order. Your doctor can put a DNR order in your medical chart.
Choosing a health care agent
Choosing a person to act as your health care agent is possibly the most important part of your planning. You need to trust that this person has your interests at heart, understands your wishes and will act accordingly. He or she should also be mature and levelheaded, and comfortable with candid conversations. Don't pick someone out of feelings of guilt or obligation.
Your health care agent doesn't necessarily have to be a family member. You may want your health care decision maker be different from the person you choose to handle your financial matters. It may be helpful, but
During the 1990s, Jack Kevorkian was undoubtedly the most well known assisted suicide and euthanasia advocate in the world. A retired pathologist from Michigan, Kevorkian made headlines internationally when he undertook a well publicized assisted-suicide campaign between 1990 and 1998 that reportedly ended the lives of approximately one hundred thirty people. Some of those whose deaths Kevorkian facilitated were terminally ill and diagnosed as having less than six months to live, but most were disabled or chronically ill. According to autopsy reports, four of the people whose suicides Kevorkian helped had no discernible organic illness.
Invented by Dr Jack Kevorkian, this device involved an individual pushing a button that released drugs or chemicals that would end his or her own life. Two deaths were assisted by means of this device, which delivered the euthanizing drugs mechanically through an IV. Kevorkian called it a "Thanatron" or death machine (see Thanatos).
It had three canisters or bottles mounted on a metal frame, about 6 inches (150 mm) wide by 18 inches (460 mm) high. Each bottle had a syringe that connected to a single IV line in the person's arm. The first bottle contained ordinary saline, or salt water. Another contained a sleep-inducing barbiturate called sodium thiopental, and the third a lethal mixture of potassium chloride, which immediately stopped the heart, and pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant to prevent spasms during the dying process. (These are the three drugs administered in the lethal injection execution protocol, but in the execution protocol, the pancuronium bromide is administered before the potassium chloride.)
Death in America is often lonely, prolonged, and painful
End of life care should include respect for the goals, preferences, and choices of the patient and his or her family
Attitudes toward death vary at different points in the life span:
Separation anxiety in infants may be an indicator of a child’s awareness of separation and loss
Young children use illogical reasoning to explain death, believing magic or treatment can return life
Those in middle and late childhood have more realistic perceptions of death
Occurs at about age 9
Knowledge of death’s approach permits us to establish priorities and structure our time
Most dying individuals what an opportunity to make some decisions regarding their own life and death
Three areas of concern:
Privacy and autonomy in regard to their families
Inadequate information about physical changes and medication as death approached
Motivation to shorten their life
Problems:
Existence of 5-stage sequence has not been demonstrated
Stage interpretation neglects patients’ unique situations
Some psychologists prefer to describe them not as stages but as potential reactions to dying
Some individuals never reach acceptance and struggle until the end
Open communication with a dying person is very important because:
They can close their lives in accord with their own ideas about proper dying
They may be able to complete plans and projects, and make arrangements and decisions
They have the opportunity to reminisce and converse with others
They have more understanding of what is happening to them
Grieving often stimulates individuals to try to make sense of their world
A reliving of the events leading to the death is common
When a death is caused by an accident or a disaster, the effort to make sense of it is often pursued more vigorously
In many western cultures, extended grieving may signify mental illness.
Japan: deceased is remembered.
Hopi: quickly forgotten, funeral includes ritual to break tie between mortal and spirits
Muslim: Egypt dwell on grief, Bali laugh and are joyful