Making Choices Easier

New approach enables more informed decisions

Talking about terminal illness is one of the hardest things a doctor and patient have to do together. Besides the obvious difficulties of discussing the end of life, most people lack a clear understanding of just what the different types of treatment available entail.

To assist with that issue, a new video, described here in a quote from a CNN article, is being used across the country to educate and inform patients before they make these important decisions.

"Videos help to broach a difficult topic and to make it more real and less abstract for patients and their loved ones," says Dr. Angelo Volandes of Massachusetts General Hospital.

The videos cover a variety of illnesses: cancer, heart disease, and dementia. There are typically three options. The first - prolong life at any cost - including breathing tubes and CPR. The second offers only medical treatment, like chemotherapy and antibiotics. Finally, there's comfort care, which may include medical treatment but which focuses on relieving suffering.

For Bernadette Wilson, the videos were an eye-opener about two aggressive procedures. "CPR and putting on a breathing machine - it doesn't work for cancer patients," Wilson says. Before seeing the videos, Wilson thought "that it would probably work."

After seeing the videos Wilson told her doctors that she doesn't want to be resuscitated. "When I saw that gentleman laying there on that ventilator - that was difficult. I wouldn't want that for me or anyone else."

Studies show that most patients who watch these videos change their minds about what they want and choose less aggressive care.

It's every person's right to choose the type of care that is best for them, and, as the level of patient education continues to expand, more than ever are choosing hospice care for the its ability to let them enjoy life.