A while ago, doctors would have rebelled against hospice care, today, they are for it. Admittedly, there has been a notable shift among doctors in their attitude towards hospice care, which is attributed to the rapid hospice growth. Conventionally, doctors were more focused on curative care that would help lengthen life, which for the most part, was futile.

As the doctors would attempt to lengthen the life of a terminal patient, the hospital bill would increase significantly. Perhaps their shift in attitude has been caused by a number of factors. With the increasing health care cost and rise of alternative health care avenues, they have joined the positive death movement.

Their part in the movement has reflected in the overall acceptance of hospice care nationwide.

According to Bailey Bryant, a reporter at the Home Health Care News, there are over 1.4 million American citizens receiving hospice care annually.  She continues to state that the numbers are expected to rise as the years go by.

The growth in acceptance of hospice care among people nationwide cannot be attributed to the shift in attitude by the doctors.

What is now termed as the positive death movement has been sparked by a number of other cultural factors. For instance, a number of mediums of information, which tend to shape agendas and opinions are advocating for it. Additionally, the ever-increasing ageing population has pushed people towards planning for the time they have to say goodbye.

Of course, there has been an increase in terminal diseases world-wide. More and more people are reporting to have developed terminal heart disease, lung disease, Alzheimer’s or a motor neuron condition. Such diseases, including advanced cancer, can easily be termed as life-limiting diseases that tend to shorten life considerably. Such a reality will wake people up to the reality of death and how unavoidable it can be.

One state, Minnesota in particular, is known for their death positive movement and mindset. The death of hospice patients has increased dramatically since the year 2000 and has seemed to spread to other states as well. In other states, the growth of hospice care seems to have picked up in the middle of the year 2018.

The death positive movement appears in a number of forms. From the inception and acceptance of Death Cafes to death doulas, the movement is expected to continue growing and fueling the growth of hospice care.

Death cafes offer the same services any normal café would. However, instead of talking about the weather or about other issues, people here talk about death. A death doula, on the other hand, offers more of a holistic type of support to the individual expecting to die. Additionally, a death doula helps the individual choose the place and location that they would wish to die.

All the above, from doctors attitude shift and cultural acceptance, have sparked the growth of hospice care. Hospice care, which is often manned by qualified home health care professionals, often make the client as comfortable as they can be during this time. Instead of trying to exploit curative avenues that can often be painful to the patient and expensive, they help improve the quality of life.

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