Glossary: Integrative End-of-Life Care

This is a general term describing two kinds of legal documents which allow a person to give instructions about future medical care and who should speak for that person if they are unable (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

Aromatherapy uses essential oils from plants to enhance physical and emotional well-being, relieve stress, and to support healing. These oils can be inhaled, applied topically, or used in diffusers.

This is the exercise of self-determination and choice among alternatives, based on the individual’s values and beliefs (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

Cancer is characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the body, which can invade surrounding tissues and disrupt normal functions. The different types of cancer are determined by which organs and tissues it occurs in, and is influenced by genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

Chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis, are health conditions that often persist for years and typically require ongoing management.

This medical specialty, also referred to as palliative care, is often associated with hospice; however, it can also be used independently and alongside curative treatments. Palliative care is available in every state, appropriate for anyone at any stage of life suffering with a debilitating illness–terminal or not–and focuses on pain management and providing comfort (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

This relates to a course of therapy during which a patient’s needs for comfort care and symptom relief is managed comprehensively and seamlessly. Hospice provides a continuum of care to patients with terminal illness, and aid-in-dying is assumed as the option of last resort at the end of that continuum (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

A death doula is a trained professional who provides support to individuals at the end of life, facilitating conversations about death, assisting with end-of-life planning, and offering comfort and guidance to ensure a peaceful and meaningful transition.

DNR/DNI stands for Do Not Resuscitate/Do Not Intubate and is a specific physician order. A DNR means that in the event of cardiac arrest, no CPR or electric shock will be performed to restart the heart. A DNI means that no breathing tube will be placed in the throat in the event of breathing difficulty or respiratory arrest. Each of these orders may be given separately and are generally prominently noted in the patient’s medical chart. The patient can change a DNR and DNI order at any time, and experts urge that such orders are reviewed regularly. In a DNR/DNI situation, a patient is provided comfort care. Without such an order, emergency medical technicians are legally required to perform CPR (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

This is the doctrine established by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century in which an action that has two effects one that is intended and positive and one that is foreseen but negative is ethically acceptable if the actor intends only the positive effect. The doctrine is often used to describe the impact of administering high doses of morphine or terminal sedation treatments intended to relieve suffering but often hasten death. Since the intention is comfort care, this is not considered euthanasia and is legal and generally practiced throughout the United States and around the world generally in private and without publicity (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

This is a document appointing a surrogate to make medical decisions in the event that an individual becomes unable to make those decisions on their own. It is also sometimes referred to as a "health care proxy" (Deathwithdignity, 2024).

End of life care encompasses the comprehensive support and medical treatment provided when a person is nearing the end of life, including physical, emotional, and spiritual care. It emphasizes comfort, dignity, and enchancing quality of life for the patient and also addresses the needs of the families during this difficult time.

An easy or painless death, or the intentional ending of the life of a person suffering from an incurable or painful disease at his or her request (National Cancer Institute, 2024).

Gastroparesis, also known as delayed gastric emptying, is a disorder where the stomach's ability to empty its contents into the small intesine is slowed or stopped. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain. It is often associated with conditions like diabetes or neurological disorders.

Hospice is an organization or institution that provides comfort (a.k.a. palliative) care for individuals who are dying when medical treatment is no longer expected to cure the disease or prolong life. Hospice sometimes also applies to an insurance benefit that pays the costs of comfort care, usually at home for patients with a prognosis or life expectancy of six months or less (Deathwithdignity, 2024).