A better way to die

doi:10.1136/bmj.39188.592940.59

BMJ 2007;334:830 (21 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39188.592940.59

Observations

Border crossing

A better way to die

Tessa Richards, assistant editor, BMJ

trichards@bmj.com

Why dying and death need to be "rehabilitated" back to a morecentral position in society

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Birth and death are rites of passage for which preparation isimportant. In rich countries, information and support duringpregnancy and childbirth are available in spades from a vastrange of professional and lay sources. Choice of venue for thebirth is often on offer too. The risk is not so much of enteringuncharted territory unprepared as of entering it utterly bedraggledfrom a deluge of advice.

Are we equally well prepared for dying and death? Speaking formyself, the answer is no. I dodged the issue before life threateningsurgery and floundered as I witnessed my father's slow declinefrom dementia. Practising medicine conferred familiarity butnot understanding, competence, or even compassion. I learnta lot through following his journey. Not from the half dozendoctors he was nominally under, but from his carers, who withoutexception came from poor countries. They tried, as we did, tobring . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

A familiar topic to us in the East: Mahesh Rajasuriya
bmj.com, 14 May 2007 [Full text]
Need to be mindful about death and dying?: Ravimal Galappaththi
bmj.com, 22 Jul 2007 [Full text]