Hospice Helps
At End of Life

I am responding to the recent letter in last week's Herald which lists the extraordinary number of Vermonters who support the proposed "Death with Dignity" Law. This law would allow Vermonters the right to avoid intolerable suffering and maintain dignity in their final days.

I am surprised that the author is unaware of the existence of Hospice in our state for the past 20 years. The goal of all Hospice care programs is to improve the quality of a patient's last days and weeks of life by offering comfort and dignity.

The Hospice team consists of physicians, nurses, aides, social workers, spiritual caregivers, counselors, therapists, and volunteers, all of whom are specially trained to provide pain and symptom management for the patient and support for the family.

The patient and family are the core of the Hospice team and the center of all decision-making. Hospice pain control expertise is unsurpassed.

The approximate six-month time span of Hospice care focuses on quality of life, an opportunity for the patient to take part in some favorite activities one last time, possibly to make amends for broken friendships, to listen to favorite music, to eat some favorite foods or possibly plan one's own funeral, among other things.

Given a choice between a sudden death or a prolonged one, patients tend to choose the later— precisely due to the opportunities it allows. Ask a family which has experienced Hospice care for its loved one and you will be convinced that a law to allow "Death with Dignity" is unnecessary for us in Vermont.

Agnes Pietryka

Secretary, Randolph Area

Hospice Committee