Doctor wants patients to reclaim dying as part of living - Spokesman Mobile - Oct. 25, 2015

Americans are dying all wrong – spending too much time and money in hospitals and intensive care units receiving invasive treatments instead of enjoying those last, valuable days at home, argues Ira Byock, one of the nation’s experts in palliative care and the chief medical officer for the Providence Institute for Human Caring in Torrance, California.

Byock is calling for a revolution, where health consumers – especially patients and their families – demand a better death on their terms. That means accepting that death is a natural part of life and that at some point medicine can’t save people. It means keeping people out of pain and at home so they can be present in this poignant time that is often sacred for families.

“It means that at some point in time we have to care for their comfort, dignity and support their interpersonal, social and spiritual well being,” Byock said in a recent telephone interview. “We know how to do this. The best hospice, best palliative care and the best nursing homes give us this model and show us the way.”

Doctor wants patients to reclaim dying as part of living - Spokesman Mobile - Oct. 25, 2015