"Have a decent death, next to your relatives, when exhausted all available therapeutic resources"

About patient rights and duties:

"Have a decent death, next to your family, when exhausted all available therapeutic resources"

What do you think when you read this sentence? What ideas or souvenirs arise in your mind? When I read this phrase, I remember a situation I witnessed when I did internship in the pediatric oncology sector of a hospital. At the time, one of the hospitalized patients, who should have about 8 years, read the rights and duties of the patient, who are hung in all rooms at the hospital. When he arrived in this item that every patient is entitled to have a dignified death, he was very mobilized and cried a lot, to the point that his mother had to cover the picture of rights and duties with a towel so he would stop crying. Time passed and unfortunately the prognosis of this patient was getting worse. A time arrived when he was no longer responding to the treatment, then, his familiar family were called to say goodbye. On his last day of life, already well-weakened according to the disease, the patient looked at the doctor and spoke "is, I think every child deserves to have a decent death." The next day he died.

Every human being has the right to have a decent death. For many people may sound strange to listen to this, many questions of the type may arise: what does a decent death configures? In what situations does this apply? How to do this? This is a controversial but important subject to be spoken. And the answer to these questions may not be so simple. However, on the International Human Rights Day, which is celebrated on December 10, I invite you to make this reflection. We do not need to get a definitive answer, just give it to this.

Speaking of death is usually very aversive, at least in our culture, at the same time this is one of the great certainties of life: we are all going to die! Some earlier, others later, but it's a reality that no one escapes. What can become more worthy this moment for the person? How can your desires be respected? Sometimes it can be something simple like opening talk space about it. Often, the person who is going through the serious illness process is the only one excluded from the subject. Your whole family is talking about it, but no one talks to her.

is incredible as we learned from children; Another story I met at the time I staggered in the pediatric oncology was a girl, who was already on the palliative stage of the disease and said, "You have to say goodbye to a person, imagine I have to say goodbye to everyone." Therefore, the message that I would like to pass with this text is: we will not lose sight of the rights of a human being because certain subjects are more difficult and sore to be addressed! Death is part of life, so talk about death is also talking about life. Let's make room for this topic?

text written by psychologist and member of Life Center, Mariana Sanseverino Dillenburg.