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Seniors had better brace themselves: Some US hospitals are now administering the "death test," which estimates their chance of dying over the next 30 days. Invented in Australia, the test weighs 29 different criteria—including blood pressure, respiratory rate, and medical history—to determine whether hospitalization is worthwhile or the patient should return home or go to a hospice, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Seniors had better brace themselves: Some US hospitals are now administering the "death test," which estimates their chance of dying over the next 30 days. Invented in Australia, the test weighs 29 different criteria—including blood pressure, respiratory rate, and medical history—to determine whether hospitalization is worthwhile or the patient should return home or go to a hospice, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
As a recent widow I feel there is a need for this type of "test" or whatever you wish to call it.
I think my husband's choices would have been different regarding treatment, how he chose to spend the precious time he had left. I feel that he would have chosen less treatment and more fun/family/us time while he could still enjoy it.
I know many doctors feel they have to save a life at all costs- but studies have shown if the roles were reversed, the doctors would forego those very same treatments themselves and just go home and enjoy the rest of their lives..
It's about time that they are able to do the same for their patients! In theory it may sound terrible, but I think it's a valuable tool for patients. Been there, wish they'd done that.
Last edited by mamasplace; 01-26-2015 at 05:47 AM..
Reason: more
The concept of choosing the better environment for the senior to have for his dying days is welcome to many. If it was known I would die, I would certainly like to have some realistic options.
I don't doubt this is coming to all as a result of the ACA/Obamacare. They even talked about it before it was passed. The bottom line is that there has to be a vehicle where someone says no to more medical treatment. For years, doctors have been obliged to do all they can to save the patient, even when there is no hope, for fear of being sued. Families sometimes want everything done to save grandma, even though they don't have the money to pay for the treatment and the hospital has been required to treat them. Its pure craziness. This had to come and it will no doubt save the country billions of dollars, saving on wasted treatments on people that are on deaths door with no hope.
It doesn't have to be a bad thing- this can open up new avenues of end of life care that are sorely needed.
Palliative care, hospice, etc are so underutilized and should be introduced far sooner than they usually are. That was my beef with my husband's doctors- they made him feel that the only way to fight for his life was to do it their way with deadly treatments. They were so wrong!
They prolonged his life but at a great emotional, physical and mental cost. The quality of the time he had left was greatly diminished. If we had to do it over again and he could choose again, I think he would have told them all to stuff their treatments and have bought us plane tickets to Tahiti! (I really do..)
The doctors followed the standard of care but it doesn't make any sense. It should change- and offer doctors and patients and families expanded choices.
It is so hard, as a family member, to make decisions like this without all the data that the doctors have. In our case, had we known how poor my mom's prognosis really was, if this "test" had been around at the time, we would have saved my mother a lot of additional agony and we would have had more realistic expectations of the outcome. Instead, as her proxy, we held out hope that if we got her past the current crisis, she would recover. Unfortunately this is a tool that is sometimes necessary to fully understand where a person really stands.
Personally, I am for it. I have seen too many of my family members being poked, prodded, unnecessarily operated on, when the medical gurus knew that there was really no hope...they tried to pull that on my Dad, I knew what he wanted and I put my foot down...as with all businesses, it is all about money, the bottom line.
67 and I don't have a problem. Death is a natural event as long as it isn't early.
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