First you suffer, then you die: findings of a major study on dying in U.S. hospitals.
A recent study of 9,000 dying patients found that improving communications between physicians, patients and families did not improve the quality of the care the patients received. Though provided with up-to-date information about patient prognoses and levels of pain, physicians made no change in their treatment patterns. This article reviews commentators from medicine, philosophy and the media and suggests actions that might improve care of the dying.
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D003142:Communication; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006302:Health Services Research; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States