William Winslade in his Dec. 27 Op-Ed piece, ”Fear of a fate worse than death,” writes, ”Health care professionals need to provide reassurance that we help patients retain as much control as possible over their lives; that they will not be abandoned or forced to suffer and that doctors will not allow their sense of futility to dominate patients` treatment.”
In this sentence, Winslade has written out the prescription for hospice care, which Chicagoans are fortunate to have available to them in their moment of need. The Visiting Nurse Association North`s Home Hospice program is committed to providing just the sort of reassurance and one-on-one caring that Winslade properly identifies as the heart of the matter in terminal illnesses. In hospice there is always something more than can be done for a patient. If the disease cannot be cured, the symptoms can be treated. But in hospice there is an understanding that more than just the physical deserves attention. The emotional and psychological needs of the patient and his/her family are attended. Hospice is concerned with the total person, with guaranteeing that even at those most vulnerable moments in a person`s life, there is control, there is dignity and there is physical and emotional comfort.
None of us need fear a fate worse than death. With hospice as a health care option, our humanity and humaneness can be maintained to the very end.
