To die well, you need to plan well

Improving the communication and decision-making about medical treatment for patients at the end of their life is crucial to avoid needless suffering.
This is the view of Darren K. Heyland (above), Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada, who will present a seminar – “To die well, you need to plan well: The importance of end of life communication and decision making” – at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus tomorrow (April 12).
“The problem starts with poor communication and decision-making about medical treatments during serious illness,” says Professor Heyland.
“This leads to the ‘intensification of care’ at the end of someone’s life, meaning many older patients who prefer a more comfortable, dignity-preserving pathway towards the ‘end,’ suffer needlessly in an intensive-care unit receiving aggressive forms of life-sustaining treatments and then, after all of that, they pass.
“This has a negative impact on the family who witness this ‘intensified’ death experience.
“It also impacts

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