In an article published in today’s New York Times, palliative care physician Richard Leiter reflects on the priority that society has placed on dying at home. “As a doctor who regularly asks my patients where they ‘want’ to die, I often worry about what this will look like if they choose home,” he writes. “I am concerned about the unacknowledged caregiving burden for family and friends.”

He doesn’t argue against dying at home. He believes that clinicians should, whenever possible, honour their patients’ preferences for where they want to die. But he also urges clinicians to acknowledge their own uncertainties and “be honest about the difficult trade-offs these choices entail.”

The article refers to “inpatient hospice facilities” as an alternative to both hospices and the home. The equivalent in Ontario is a residential hospice. Click on the Find Services tab to look for End-of-Life Care services in your part of the province, including residential hospices.

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