Passing Peacefully

Paul Scheier knew exactly how he wanted to die long before it happened: at home, with his wife and children.  Last July, that is exactly how it occurred.  After succumbing to lung cancer, the retired dentist from Orchard Park, New York passed away in his bedroom with Lorraine, his wife of 62 years, and their four grown children. 

Unlike many Americans who pass away in the clinical, often chaotic atmosphere of a hospital, Paul died peacefully at home.  A recent Consumer Reports survey of 2,015 adults suggests that Americans would prefer to die at home.  However, good death can be difficult to achieve.  According to a report from the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. healthcare system is poorly designed to deal with end-of-life concerns, particularly when it comes to considering the wishes of terminal patients. 

This is why Americans must think about end-of-life concerns before a crisis arrives.  This should start with a conversation with your family about the care you want during your final months and days.  It should involve creating a living will and you should appoint a health care proxy. 

Families should also consider hospice and palliative care programs.  Six months after he learned his cancer had returned, Paul entered a hospice program in Buffalo.  Paul was grateful to lean that Medicare covered his hospice expenses and his wife would not be left with financial burdens.  “We always complain about government programs, but this one is just so wonderful.  The hospice workers walked into our home and became part of our family and we know they’re going to take care of us until my last breath,” said Paul. 

See A Beautiful Death, Consumer Reports, 2014.