[Global Economic Times] As we enter a 'multi-death society' where the number of deaths exceeds the number of births due to the combination of low birth rate and aging population, experts have established and announced basic principles for our society to support 'good death'.
On the 21st, the Korea Health and Medical Research Institute (NECA) announced the '7 Principles and 16 Key Matters for a Good Death in Our Society', which contains the results agreed upon by experts through discussion at the roundtable 'NECA Gongmyeong'. did it
NECA Resonance is a roundtable program where various stakeholders share and deliberate on current issues and issues in the healthcare field.
Twelve people participated in this program, including experts working in various end-of-life settings such as general hospitals, nursing hospitals, home medical care, and visiting nursing, as well as experts in the fields of law, bioethics, and media.
The seven principles presented by experts are: ▲ Provide end-of-life care services centered on people ▲ Establish end-of-life care plans in advance ▲ Ensure patients’ right to self-determination ▲ Provide holistic and integrated end-of-life care ▲ Priority should be placed on patient comfort, ▲ patient needs and preferences should be respected during the dying stage, and ▲ national investment in quality end-of-life care should be strengthened.
In detail, it presented the principle that end-of-life care services should be provided that are value-centered rather than technology-centered, and that conversations related to this should be centered on patients and families. This means that criteria must be established to identify eligible patients, and patients, families, and doctors must discuss the target patients together and develop a prior care plan.
It also established the principle that end-of-life care conversations should be held regularly in a way that patients and families can understand, and important decisions should be made between medical staff and patients, but the patient's opinion should be given priority.
By establishing an end-of-life care network centered around the local community, we will provide efficient medical and social support to patients, establish a multidisciplinary care cooperation system involving skilled professionals, and provide training courses to improve the quality of care workers. It was also recommended to develop and prepare measures to deal with the emotional burden they will feel.
Experts also suggested improving accessibility to end-of-life care services, reorganizing related laws and systems for a good death, establishing governance, and strengthening promotional activities to spread awareness that death is a part of life.
In Korea, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births as of 2020. The number of deaths in 2023 is expected to reach 350,000, and increase to 500,000 to 600,000 in 20 to 30 years.
Announcing this principle, experts said, "In Korea, as the number of deaths increases every year, public interest in the quality of death is increasing, but the institutional foundation to support this is insufficient." “There is a culture of lack of preparation for death,” he pointed out.
He explained, “This is a set of principles that should be put into practice so that our people can receive quality end-of-life care services when they need it.”
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