End of life care _SUPPORT study

Q: "Maintaining a sense of humor" is part of a good death process?

A) True
B) False


Answer: True

According to SUPPORT (Study to Understand Prognosis and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatments) study in which older adults facing the end of life offered insight into a good death as they experienced their own dying, there were 19 expectations / recommendations /desires divided into five components

1. Care related to symptoms and personal care 
2. Being prepared for death 
3. Achieving a sense of completion 
4. Being treated as a whole person
5. Relating to family, society, care providers, and transcendent

"Maintaining a sense of humor" is considered as one of the part from dying patients in #4 component.

Reference:

Steinhauser KE, Christakis NA, Clipp EC, et al. Factors considered important at the end of life by patients, family, physicians, and other care providers. JAMA 2000; 284:2476.