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Americans Avoid Discussing Death

If you ask most Americans they would say they would prefer to die at home surrounding by family, National Association of Social Workers member Deborah Waldrop said in this UPI article.

Yet statistics show 80 percent of chronically ill people die in hospitals or nursing homes.

“Too often, their lives have ended in pain and despair, spending their final days in an alienating institutional environment…,” Waldrop, DSW, ACSW, said.

There  is a growing emphasis on allowing chronically ill people to have a “good death,” which may include allowing them to die at home, said Waldrop, who is a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work.

To learn more about how social workers help people at the end of life visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Death & Dying Web page by clicking here. NASW also released Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care. To read these standards click here.

 

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2 Comments

  1. One of the problems I encounter in the hospital setting is the issue of doctors not wanting to have a serious discussion about hospice until it’s too late. While it’s understandable, many doctors are hesitant or afraid to have discussions with patients and their families about the severity of a patient’s illness, often instilling hope when there shouldn’t be. In several cases, I have seen patients suffer greatly as a result of wanting aggressive treatments until the end, when they could have passed away comfortably at home.

    Here is a great New Yorker article on hospice care. It’s a great read and perhaps something that can be shared with families and doctors who struggle with this issue: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande

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