Roseann Tenhunan and her Daughter
In the surveys that have been undertaken 70% of people express a wish to die at home, about 16% get to do so. Not only can this be distressing for all the individuals and families involved, it often means that scarce resources in hospital wards and emergency departments are being used to provide marginal extra time to those at the end of their life. And these extreme interventions are often at the cost of a peaceful and meaningful death.
One of the ways we can change this is by talking about our wishes for how we want to die and there is now a strong movement to encourage that conversation through projects such as Dying to Know Day and Death Cafes, but also promotion from government for us to all put in place Advanced Care Directives.
None of this will mean much unless there are more services to support us and our families dying at home. There are more and more home palliative care medical teams being established and now the NSW government has allocated $35M in new funding for Palliative Care Services in NSW which offers practical support in the time leading up to death.
In this edition of 7.30 NSW we learn what this means to Roseann and her family. This is a very touching program and we must be grateful for their generosity in sharing these precious final moments.
Have you had the conversation with your loved ones about how you want to die?
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