Hospice care -- a blessing when it's needed most

Lots of people near life's end could benefit from hospice care. Lots of families could benefit from this care. There are a whole host of reasons why people do not seek hospice care, as revealed in a piece in today's NY Times. Read this article, and perhaps print out a copy. When someone you love is caring for a dying friend, pull this out -- and encourage them to call hospice care.

Hospice services, in institutional settings or at home, benefit only about one person in three who dies in this country. “There are still over one million Americans who die each year without receiving hospice or hospice-type services that would have benefited them and their families,” according to a report, “Access to Hospice Care,” produced in 2003 by the Hastings Center.

The most common report from families after a loved one’s death is regret that hospice had not been called in sooner. In a study of 275 patients, families that benefited from hospice thought three months would have been optimal and that less than three weeks was too short.

Here's the whole article. This is surely an area where the church could service a more vital witness: caring for people before, during, and after death.