End of Life Care Essay

patients to be granted the ability to end their lives through assisted suicide. This is because some terminal illnesses are very painful; hence, they tend to add more suffering to the patient. In Oregon, through the Death with Dignity Act, patients suffering from terminal illnesses can opt to end their lives by prescribing for lethal medication (Becker, 2015). Research shows that although the United States is fully equipped to offer End of Life Care, the program is yet to fully take off since the nation is a death-denying society (Radcliffe, 2015). According to Becker (2015), most people are against the idea of assisted suicide since they believe patients will opt to end their lives in a move to avoid being a burden to the family.

End of Life Care is the support that is usually given to patients that are in their final stages of dying. Apart from patients that are terminally ill, this program is also offered to the elderly. Patients nearing their end of life need quality care. However, this care is only administered with regards to the wish of the patient. Therefore, for proper end of life care, patients are advised to draft an advanced directive, hence, making it possible for another person to make decisions for them in case they become incapacitated. Although I am in support of the end of life care, the program is yet to fully take off since most Americans shun from publicly talking about death. With this information, it is hard for patients to have a proper end of life care since they are always under medication.

Reference

1. Becker, A. (2015). “On polarizing end-of-life issue, what changes minds?.”
   

The CT Mirror. Retrieved fromhttp://ctmirror.org/2015/03/16/on-polarizing-end-of-life-issue-what- changes-minds/