New Approaches to End-of-Life Care
Hospice care is a vital form of health care. It ensures that those nearing the end of their life experience comfort and dignity as they navigate the process of dying. Hospice care is continuously evolving as the way we think about death changes. New methods of providing care to those with a life-limiting illness continue to emerge. These new approaches to coping with serious illness can go a long way towards guiding an individual and their loved ones through the processes of death and grief.
Legacy Therapy
Legacy therapy or dignity therapy is a new and increasingly popular form of palliative care. Legacy therapy involves multiple sessions between a patient with a life-limiting illness and a doctor, counsellor, social worker or other health care professional. During these sessions, patients talk about all aspects of their life. Primarily, legacy therapy is used to determine a patient’s end-of-life goals, or things they hope to accomplish with the time they have left. This can give individuals with a serious illness hope and a sense of purpose that they may have lost after their diagnosis. Legacy therapy sessions are often also used to determine what a patient would like to leave behind to mark their life. In this way, legacy therapy guides individuals with a serious illness to create something tangible, perhaps a memory box, that tells their life story and shares loving messages with family members. Such a memento may become a lasting treasure for an individual’s loved ones. As well, a patient may share stories, knowledge or moments from their life that can be handed down. These can serve as precious memories for a patient’s loved ones. Legacy therapy can also involve discussing topics that the patient has never talked about before. Sometimes, a patient will express what their loved ones mean to them. In other cases, patients will share difficult parts of their life, whether that be discussing a traumatic experience, regrets in life or a lost relationship. These conversations with health care professionals allow patients to feel at peace with their past, which in turn allows them to focus on the time they have left with their loved ones. Additionally, having another person listen to a patient’s story can highlight significant moments or relationships to a patient and thus affirm the meaning and importance of that patient’s life.
Death Cafes
Since 2011, communities around the world have been coming together to host conversation and reflection about death. However, throughout the pandemic, Death Cafes have garnered more attention. A Death Cafe is a group of people that meet to talk about topics associated with death. These topics can be centered around questions such as “Where would you like to be when you die?”, “What things make for a good death?”, “How would you like to be remembered?” and “What would you like your funeral to look like?”. Death Cafes encourage people to make the most of their lives without imposing a specific agenda on group discussion. The conversations are respectful and confidential and serve as a tool to destigmatize the process of death, something every individual will one day face. Death Cafes are not a form of counselling or grief support, meaning that they differ from many resources currently available to seriously ill patients and their loved ones. As such, anyone can attend a Death Cafe. However, as their focus is to increase awareness about death, Death Cafes and the discussions they promote are especially relevant to patients with a life-limiting illness and their family members. Frank and honest conversations can reduce the fear and uncertainty that are often associated with death. In this way, Death Cafes can assist individuals with a life-limiting illness and their loved ones in preparing emotionally for the process of death.
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