Slowly but surely the message is getting out that encouraging people to plan for death can deliver good outcomes for everyone involved.
Hal Swerissen and Stephen Duckett [Gattan Institute, Melbourne, Vic.](What can we do to help Australians die the way they want to? Medical Journal of Australia 202(1) 19 January 2015) say: “A different service mix could better meet end-of-life (EOL) care needs for little additional cost.”
“Dignity, control and privacy are important for a good death. Choice over who will be present, where people will die and what services they will get matters.”
They write that: “Four reforms would facilitate a good death:
1st: we need more public discussion about the limits of heath care as death approaches;
2nd: people need to plan better to ensure their desires at EOL are complied with;
3rd: we need to ensure that these EOL wishes are followed;
4th: services for those dying of chronic illness need to be reoriented so that they focus more on people’s wishes do die at home and in homelike settings, rather than in institutions.
Swerissen and Duckett go on to set out costings including substantial savings to the health budget. Read the full story at: https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/202_01/swe01580.pdf