The PBS Frontline documentary Being Mortal focuses on doctors and their patients who are dealing with chronic illness and nearing the end of their life. It investigates how some doctors are ill-equipped to talk about chronic illness and death with their patients and how this can lead to a lesser quality of life at the end of life stage for patients. In this documentary, we followed Dr. Atul Gawade on his journey to educate himself and others about the difficult emotional aspects of dying. The director, Thomas Jennings, along with Dr. Gawade, created a fantastic documentary about how it is important for doctors to talk to dying patients about their mortality. This was effectively done by offering experiences and interviews from doctors and their patients, by following the declining path of the patient, and by showing the real life emotion of the patients, families and doctors working through to the end.
The director started the documentary with an experience that led Dr. Gawade to question if he was dealing with his patient’s mortality in the best way possible. This brings up the main question; Is it better to talk about mortality early in treatment? The director and Dr.
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Gawade took us on a journey and answer this by the end of the documentary. Jennings filmed Dr. Gawade talking with Richard Monopoli, husband of a patient that had passed of a chronic illness. In doing this, the director was able to show that Mr. Monopoli’s wife and family may have had a better end of life experience had her mortality been dealt with earlier in her illness. From there, the director touched on the personal experience of Dr. Gawade losing his father to a chronic illness and carried on to three other patients and their personal experience. Jennings also followed the oncologists that are involved and their own thoughtful process on how they handled, or didn’t handle, the topic of morality with their patients. In doing this, the director is able to enlist trust that the question being asked and the path the documentary will take are based on truth and real life experience. Going over the story with Mr. Monopoli about the beginning struggle his wife had with chronic illness to her unfortunate end set up the path the documentary was going to take. From there, the documentary followed four other patients and their declining path of mortality. The director started with each patient and their controlled illness, continued on with their journey, right to the end of their life and their struggle. Jennings also reflected on the oncologists involved with the patients and touched on the care that they provided throughout this time. Jennings then showed us how the doctors discussed and prepared the patient for the end of their journey. The director had experiences from patients and doctors that did not effectively discuss the topic of mortality and he offered experiences from patients and doctors that had that discussion. Clearly the patients and doctors that had the discussion were better prepared and seemed to have a more peaceful death. This was an effective and emotional way of getting an answer to the question that was being asked in the beginning. This documentary showed the emotional journey the patients went through from hope of continuing on with their chronic illness to the realization and sadness that their journey was ending.
The director then touched on the end of life personal preparations of the patient. Through the interviews, music and locations, he managed to share the sadness and peace that the patients and families were experiencing. The documentary also reflected on how difficult it was for the doctors to come to terms with their patient being at the end of their life and the failure they felt in not being able to help them further. In doing this the director helped the viewer understand how important it is for us to understand our mortality and be prepared to answer our important questions earlier rather than
later. Being Human was presented to the viewer in a real and honest way and gave insight about a topic that is difficult to discuss. The interviews provided by the oncologists and patients provided a very real and informative account of what some people experience with chronic illness. The opinion and narration provided by Dr. Gawade gave a very real view of how difficult tackling the conversation about mortality with patients is. The sequence the director used to show the patient and doctor experience through chronic illness to the end of life was organized in a way to keep the viewer engaged and on track with the progress of the journey. The Director immersed the viewer into the lives of the patients, involving the viewer to witness the sadness and loss with the families and doctors involved. The doctors and patients allowed the view to witness the agony and the grace of their struggles. This documentary leaves one with the realization that end of life conversations should be thought about and talked about earlier in people with chronic illness so the quality of life can be. As Dr. Gawade stated “We should not strive for a good death but rather to have the best possible life up to and including the end”.
While the majority of the book critiques the healthcare system, Chapter 13 focuses more on key actions and personality traits that help Dr. Stone relate to patients. Although this noteworthy, compassionate physician attempts to develop an understanding of his patients’ values and goals, he still fails Mrs. Jackson by trying to retain cultural competency by tiptoeing around end-of-life decisions. Conversations about feeding tube placement and DNR orders could have minimized Mrs. Jackson’s unnecessary
The Dying of the Light is an article by Dr. Craig Bowron that captures the controversy surrounding the role of medication in prolonging life. The author describes that many medical advancements have become a burden to particularly elderly patients who in most instances are ready to embrace the reality of death. Dr. Bowron believes that dying in these modern times has become a tiring and unnatural process. “Everyone wants to grow old and die in his or her sleep, but the truth is most of us will die in pieces,” Bowron notes (Bowron). The article does not advocate for euthanasia or the management of health care costs due to terminal or chronic illness. Bowron faults humanity for not embracing life and death with dignity as it was in the past. He blames the emergence of modern medical advances and democracy as the sole reason why everyone is pursuing immortality or prolonging of life rather than embracing the natural course of things. The article is very articulate and comes out rather persuasive to its target audience that happens to be health-conscious. Craig Bowron uses effective rhetorical strategies such as logos, ethos, and pathos to pass on his message. The article’s credibility is impeccable due to the author’s authority in health matters as he is a hospital-based internist. A better placed individual to dissect this issue by analyzing his experiences in the healthcare profession. The article incorporates a passionate delivery that appeals to the readers’ hopes, opinions, and imagination.
“In quixotically trying to conquer death doctors all too frequently do no good for their patients’ “ease” but at the same time they do harm instead by prolonguing and even magnifying patients’ dis-ease.”
Being in hospice care is a better alternative than being stuck in the hospital to try to avoid the unavoidable. Common misconceptions about Hospice could include that hospice makes life more miserable; however, a physician expressed his findings in Hospice,“You can only fail a patient if you fail to understand and respond to their needs. We may not be able to cure all of our patients, but if we can make them comfortable in the last moments of their lives, we will not have failed them”..Hospice care gradually emerged in the 1970s, when groups like the National Hospice Organization were formed “in response to the unmet needs of dying patients and their families for whom traditional medical care was no longer effective.”Herbert Hendin, an executive director of the American Suicide Foundations illustrates a story of a young man diagnosed with acute myelocytic leukemia and was expected to have only a few months before he died. He persistently asked the doctor to assist him, but he eventually accepted the medical treatment. His doctor told him he can use his time wisely to become close to his family. Two days before he died, Tim talked about what he would have missed without the opportunity for a
In Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Values, Peter Singer examines ethical dilemmas that confront us in the twentieth century by identifying inconsistencies between the theory and practice of ethics in medicine. With advancements in medical technology, we focus on the quality of patients’ lives. Singer believes that in this process, we have acknowledged a new set of values that conflicts with the doctrine of the sanctity of life.
When it comes to a bad diagnosis it is often difficult for doctors to tell their patients this devastating news. The doctor will likely hold back from telling the patient the whole truth about their health because they believe the patient will become depressed. However, Schwartz argues that telling the patient the whole truth about their illness will cause depression and anxiety, but rather telling the patient the whole truth will empower and motivate the patient to make the most of their days. Many doctors will often also prescribe or offer treatment that will likely not help their health, but the doctors do so to make patients feel as though their may be a solution to the problem as they are unaware to the limited number of days they may have left. In comparison, people who are aware there is no cure to their diagnosis and many choose to live their last days not in the hospital or pain free from medications without a treatment holding them back. They can choose to live their last days with their family and will have more time and awareness to handle a will. Schwartz argues the importance of telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and communicating the person’s likely amount of time left as it will affect how the patient chooses to live their limited
According to a doctor in the documentary, people are coming to the ICU’s to die. (Lyman et al, 2011) Due to the fact that technology to sustain life is available the decision to end life has become much more complicated yet more people die in hospitals then anywhere else. (Lyman et al, 2011) The story of Marthe the 86 year old dementia patient stood out to me upon viewing the documentary because I recently just had my great grandmother go through the same situation. (Lyman et al, 2011) Marthe entered the ICU and was intubated for two weeks while her family members decided whether to perform a tracheotomy or take her off life support. (Lyman et al, 2011) The family was having a tough time deciding due to the fact that the doctors could sustain Marthe’s life if they requested it. Marthe ended up being taken off the ventilator and to everyone’s surprise was able to breathe but, a day later she could no longer do so and now she has been on life support for a year. (Lyman et al, 2011) Another patient that I took particular interest in was John Moloney a 53 year old multiple myeloma patient who has tried every form of treatment with no success. (Lyman et al, 2011) Despite trying everything he still wanted treatment so he could live and go home with his family but ended up in
A Death of One's Own (2000) is a segment that unravels the complications underlying the many choices at the end of life. Narrated by Bill Moyers, the viewers are taken for the bedside of the dying to the obverse line of efforts to expand end-of-life care. Not only does the terminally ill patients struggles with the topics of physician assisted suicide and pain relief that could speed up death, but also the caregivers.
In his TED Talk, BJ Miller discussed the end of life with the hope of bringing attention to how we die. BJ Mille started of his presentation by talking about his experience with death and how one night changed his whole life. It is through his own death and the lives of his patients that Miller can fully explain what it truly felt like to experience dying and what our healthcare needs to improve on how people die. For Miller, the fundamental problem for hospitals is that they were designed to be a place to treat diseases, not a place for people and those with terminal diseases. He explained that we have to change the system so that it is more sensitive towards differentiating between necessary suffering which is the consequences of their condition
I am presented with questions, from both family and patients, regarding when it is appropriate to die peacefully and not prolong living with a terminal disease. I see how hard it is on the family and the patient when they do not agree about an end of life decision. During a start of care, I always ask if the patient has a DNR. Although it is a simple yes or no question, I believe after viewing these videos, I will discuss the importance of making their wishes known, to both the family and healthcare staff, prior to experiencing a condition that could prevent them from expressing their wishes. It is very important to discuss this information with their family and physician and take appropriate action when they are still fairly healthy and in sound
The movie WIT illustrates this unpleasant reality in an unashamed way, time and time again. The patient, Dr. Bearing, is treated more as a medical experiment rather than a person currently going through one of the worst scenarios possible in life. Rather than giving her hope and optimism, the doctors give her orders and demands to ‘take the full dose’ no matter what. Rather than actually involving her in the decisions regarding her individual life, they treat her as though her fate has already been decided and now all that remains is a chance to gain valuable knowledge—at the expense of her having any kind of comfort in her last moments
How would you feel if you had to watch a loved one with a horrible terminal illness live in complete agony for the rest of their life? You would just want to do everything you could do to try and help them. Sometimes you have to think, if this were me would I want this done? It’s hard to watch a family member suffer and there isn't really much you can do to fix it. It’s would also be hard if the sick person lived alone with no family. Sometimes the
The subject of death and dying is a common occurrence in the health care field. There are many factors involved in the care of a dying patient and various phases the patient, loved ones and even the healthcare professional may go through. There are many controversies in health care related to death, however much of it roots from peoples’ attitudes towards it. Everyone handles death differently; each person has a right to their own opinions and coping mechanisms. Health care professionals are very important during death related situations; as they are a great source of support for a patient and their loved ones. It is essential that health care professionals give ethical, legal and honest care to their patients, regardless of the situation.
planning end of life can be extremely difficult for the patient and their family members. They
Have you ever looked into someone’s eyes expressing unbearable pain? You can see only one wish in such eyes and that is to die. For me, I saw it every day for nine long months as I watch my father in law suffer and die of stage four esophageal cancer. The pain and suffering he went through was so unbearable to watch and the hopeless feeling I had of not being able to do anything to take away the pain. There were days when he would ask us to just put him out of the miserable, horrible pain he was in; but we all knew that there was no legal way to do this for him. To watch as he