The decision of where to spend one’s final days is often an emotional and difficult choice.
Dying at home vs hospital: there are both advantages and disadvantages for each situation, but some factors should be considered before making the big decision
Dying at home can be difficult because of the lack of sophisticated equipment and specialists to take care of the patient at these critical moments. On the other hand, it has its set of merits such as being near your loved ones so that you can have the final word with them as well as have unlimited time with friends who will be visiting at these sunset days.
Dying in a hospital on the other hand might be difficult for people who want to spend as much time as possible with their loved ones. At the hospital, your primary caregivers are strangers and so you will have strange people cleaning you up and feeding you. But at the same time, it has its set of advantages. For one, you have quality equipment to take care of you. There are also qualified medical professionals looking after you 24/7. They will be able to point out when the patient is in great pain and their end of life moments.
Dying in a hospital may allow for people with terminal illnesses like cancer, AIDS or Alzheimer’s disease more comfort than being confined to their own homes
A dying person should have an opportunity for independence as well as recognition that they are loved through personal desires such as living arrangements. They also deserve quality time from those who care about them most before passing away peacefully during sleep so there is no awareness or pain associated with death; allowing them one final memory of peace and love rather than fear when unconsciousness takes over.
Differences between dying in hospital vs home setting
| Dying in Hospital Setting | Dying in Home Setting |
| -Qualified professionals available all the time without you having to call for them | -Although the hospice caregivers are available, you will have to call them in and they might be tied down by traffic or attending other patients in the neighborhood |
| -Availability of sophisticated hospital equipment | -You might not have the best healthcare equipment at home |
| -Family members and friends only allowed a few visitation hours | -Family members and friends have unlimited time to see you |
| -Cost might be very high | -Cost is not very high |
| -Certification of death is immediate since there will be a medical professional at the ready | -Certification of death might take long since at the time of death, there might not be a medical professional nearby |
Which is better: Dying at home vs hospital
While the cost of dying at home might be less than that of dying at the hospital, there is a lot of emotional burden on the side of the family as they see their loved one kicking the bucket and they have nothing that they can do.
At the same time, if your relative is dying and they just decide to give up on life before their time, family members might be at loss over what to do. At the hospital though, health workers are trained to spot a patient giving up on their life and as such, they will be able to provide immediate counselling to the patient.
