Most of us do not consider this question unless death is imminent.

However, on a recent visit to see my dad, my dad and I did just that.

My dad is a healthy 82 year old man with a happy and active life. He plays a hard game of tennis 3-4 times each week, has a busy social schedule, is planning international vacations and does not have any reason to think that he will die soon.

Compassion, the commitment to strive to alleviate the suffering of others, is a fundamental component of effective healthcare.

This may appear to be obvious, but our physician training programs do not often prioritize the study and application of compassionate medical care. In addition, our hospital and office settings do not foster compassion.

Patient-centered healthcare recognizes the ineffectiveness of an authoritarian model of medical care whereby physicians tell patients what to do, and bypasses the concept of a partnership between physicians and patients in which each partner has equal input.

In patient-centered healthcare, patients are encouraged and supported as they stand at the center of their medical care, receiving input from many sources, making their own choices.

All physicians are taught to observe breathing patterns, and distinguish between breathing that is labored and respirations that are fluid and relaxed.  

We put muscles and joints through range of motion tests and quickly become familiar with the unrestrained, coordinated motion of healthy joints.

But even when physicians treat problems affecting organs, joints or tissues, a state of health is not necessarily restored.

For patients facing cancer and other serious illnesses, the greatest obstacle to health and well-being is fear.
 
A recent patient facing aggressive lymphoma wrote: “Suddenly you find yourself in a place which was previously unimaginable — or at the very least undesirable — for you or anyone else.”