To achieve this end, the health care delivery system must encourage physicians and the public to consider the hospice option. Physicians are taught to diagnose, treat, and heal illness, but they must also be reminded that it is not always possible to heal their patients. They must recognize that once traditional medical care proves to be no longer effective, palliative care is available, and if this type of care is chosen, it should not indicate a physicians' failure to heal. Medical schools must move beyond teaching doctors how to heal and must improve physicians' knowledge of quality care for dying patients when healing is not possible. The best time to make these decisions is before they are faced with a terminal illness.
Consumers can make their health care wishes known by developing living wills and advance directives.
However, once these legal documents are developed, patients need to work with the doctors and families to ensure the directives are carried out. As the nation marks National Hospice Month this November, we encourage you to research the hospice services available in your community, so that will may feel knowledgeable about the health care options open to you before a terminal illness strikes.