Gradual Dying and End-of-Life Care, Part 4

This podcast will help you get ready to face the inevitable unpleasant things that will happen in your life -- things like trouble, suffering, sickness, and death -- the death of people you love and your own death.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

The featured quote for this episode is from Benjamin Franklin. He said, "Fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal."

Our topic for today is titled "Gradual Dying and End-of-Life Care (Part 4)" from the book, "The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come" by Rob Moll.

--- Are Christians Too Pro-Life?

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people of religious faith (95 percent of whom were Christians) were three times more likely to choose aggressive medical treatment at the end of their lives, even though they knew they were dying and that the treatments were unlikely to lengthen their lives. The study determined “that relying upon religion to cope with terminal cancer may contribute to receiving aggressive medical care near death.” One of the researchers told me, “patients who received outside clergy visits had worse quality of death scores in comparison to those who did not.” In other words, our churches are not teaching us to die well. Why?

Those who intensively rely on their faith when suffering from terminal illness, the study found, “may choose aggressive therapies because they believe that God could use the therapy to provide divine healing, or they hope for a miraculous cure while intensive medical care prolongs life.” God, however, doesn’t need the surgeon’s assistance to restore health. Not only did they choose more aggressive medical interventions, the study found religious people were less likely to have done any end-of-life planning or to understand the legal documents involved.

The researchers report that there may be good reasons to pursue aggressive end-of-life care. Many Christians believe it is simply morally wrong to forgo any potential opportunity to increase their life, even if only by a few days. However, as the study notes, “Because aggressive end-of-life cancer care has been associated with poor quality of death and caregiver bereavement adjustment, intensive end-of-life care might represent a negative outcome.” One researcher said, “We believe that the problem is that religious people who are dying . . . along with their families are not receiving spiritual counsel in their medical decision making.” The researchers say these patients are “not being counseled in how to die.”

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