Dying at Home: Can Families Cope?

Abstract

Surveys indicate that most people say they would like to die at home. With the increase in professional and popular acceptance of exploration into the needs of the dying, there is increasing interest in the practicability of families taking loved persons home to die. This article examines five considerations involved in the decision for a home death: (1) sources of the moral support necessary for the family to take the responsibility, (2) the kinds of professional aid available on a part-time basis, (3) the kinds of special equipment necessary, (4) ease with which family members can acquire the necessary nursing skills, and (5) certain basic information which used to be common knowledge until hospital deaths became the norm - how to tell when death is imminent, what actually happens at the moment of death, and what to do with a body after the death.