Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110426
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HOSPICE CARE AIDS DEATH WITH DIGNITY
THE FRENZY of recent suicide deaths "assisted" by the so-called suicide doctor, Jack Kevorkian, prompts this letter. As I write this, Dr. Kevorkian has been involved in three such deaths in five days. Each death has been accompanied by widespread coverage in the media.The danger in this saturation of media attention is that it may give terminally ill people the impression that his way is the only alternative to futile, expensive and often painful medical care. That is absolutely wrong.
For terminally ill patients and their families, there is another choice - hospice care. It is a form of care for the terminally ill that enables them to live as fully and as pain-free as possible before they die, allowing them to spend their last days in dignity, making peace with themselves and their loved ones.
A hospice treats all the needs of such patients through a team that includes physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, therapists, clergy, aides and volunteers. Usually, the patient can remain in the home, with a relative or close friend serving as the "primary care-giver." Hospice also tends to the needs of the patient's family. The team advises them how to handle the many practical and emotional problems involved, and remains involved with the family through bereavement counseling and group support for at least one year following the death of the patient.
Hospice care is becoming increasingly known and widely used. Last year, for example, almost 100 terminally ill persons received hospice care in the New River Valley area, and nationwide the total was more than 210,000 patients. Hospice care has become so accepted that Medicare and Medicaid cover 100 percent of the services, and most insurance plans contain some form of hospice coverage.
It is not our place, nor is it our intention, to pass judgment on Dr. Kevorkian or on the people whose desperation drove them to seek his services. But those who think his way is the only way should be advised that they are wrong. JUDITH B. BRACK Executive Director New River Valley Hospice, Inc. BLACKSBURG