Living Longer As Well As Better
Do you want to live longer? New research shows a surprising way how: by using hospice.
The current issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management http://www.jpsmjournal.comincludes a study that finds hospice care may extend the lives of people who are terminally ill. The research involved nearly 4,500 cases from 1998 to 2002, patients whose illnesses were among the most common causes of death (congestive heart failure, or cancer of the breast, lung, colon, pancreas or prostate).
For most of the diseases, people in hospice care lived longer. Patients with pancreatic cancer lived three more weeks, and with lung cancer lived 39 more days. The biggest winners were people with heart failure, whose survival was 402 days (compared with 321 days for people not in hospice care).
There are three important things about this information. The first is that attending to people’s non-medical needs (their emotions, their spirituality, the effect of the illness on their families) – all of which hospice does so well – can extend their lives. We all know the potential that can be unlocked in our lives when we are free from worry. We know intuitively that good emotional health supports good physical health. This study shows objectively that it’s true for people who are dying too.
Second, when people are spared the needless interventions, when they avoid the risks of infection and complications associated with high tech medicine, they have more energy for living.
Third, this study refutes the common misconception that involving hospice is akin to giving up. Instead, engaging the patient-oriented disciplines of hospice enables people to survive longer. They’re less worried about burdening their families. They receive interdisciplinary treatment that attends to their comfort and personalizes their care.
These few gained weeks are beyond precious. As the end of life approaches, every moment increases in value – each meal, each conversation, each opportunity to resolve conflicts or fulfill wishes or express love. Hospice already has legions of fans for making these deeds possible.
The full study is available at the website of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization http://www.nhpco.org/14a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=5145. It’s worth a read. Now we know that people in hospice both live better and live longer.