About 99 per cent of people will die the way they do now – in a highly predictable but largely unplanned manner. As a result of this lack of planning – and, in large part, our squeamishness in talking about death when we’re well – far too many patients will die in a manner that’s completely at odds with their personal wishes.
If you want your wishes respected, you have to express them. Most Canadians don’t do so.
A poll commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association, for example, found that 95 per cent of people think that talking about death with a loved one is important, but only 30 per cent have done so, and a mere 16 per cent have taken concrete action as a result. The principal reason people give for avoiding “The Conversation,” and making concrete plans, is that it creeps them out.
To view the full article, please visit The Globe and Mail.
Leave a Reply