3 Wishes Project brings dignity to dying patients

After nearly two  months in the hospital, there was nothing more that medical science could do to save Adam. The young man lay dying in the intensive care unit connected to the steadily beeping and whirring monitors and life-support machines.He loved the outdoors, particularly sunsets, and his wife, Sandy, wished he didn ’t have to die inside the sterile white walls of his hospital room. Wanting to pay tribute to what he enjoyed, she asked the staff, “Was there a way Adam didn’t have to spend his last moments in an ICU room surrounded by machines?”Yes, thanks to a new pilot research project in UCLA ’s medical intensive care unit.The concept is simple. The3 Wishes Project aims to improve the end-of-life experience in the intensive care unit by fulfilling small wishes for dying patients.“We try to elicit and implement wishes that make the dying process more individualized and dignified,” saidDr. Thanh Neville, an assistant professor in the division of pulmonary and critical care in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “And, by honoring the patient’s life and creating a positive memory, we can help support family during an extremely difficult time.”Dr. Deborah Cook, an intensive care physician in Canada, introduced the 3 Wishes Demonstration Project in St. Joseph ’s Healthcare in Ontario in 2013 and it has since expanded to six other Canadian hospitals.Margaret Sison/UCLA HealthSherry Xu and Dr. Thanh NevilleRonald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is the...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news