The importance of palliative care
An important and thoughtful article in the Catholic Register on palliative care:
Michele Chaban doesn’t want the option of asking her doctor to kill her, but she thinks she’s probably going to get it.
Chaban is one of Canada’s leading experts on how we die and the care we provide to the dying. She counsels dying patients and their families and teaches the subject at the University of Toronto and the University of Wales. She has also lived with a spinal cord injury for 26 years.
“I get scared sometimes that somebody is going to say, ‘Well, you’re not really a helpful member of society, and you’re not producing anything, and so we don’t need you any more,’ ” Chaban told The Catholic Register.
The Canadian Virtual Hospice is a great resource for anyone looking for information about palliative care. In addition to a range of articles on topics from symptom management to financial assistance to decision-making and caring for someone with advanced illness, visitors pose a question directly to a pallaitive care expert (doctors, nurses, psychosocial specialist and a spirtual care adviser)through “Ask a Professional” and receive a detailed personal response. Check it out at http://www.virtualhospice.ca and http://www.portailpalliatif.ca.