dc.description.abstract | This dissertation presents an analysis of how Confucian hospice care could provide an ethical solution to the needs of terminal patients in order that they could rest in peace. Terminal patients are patients that have serious and painful diseases and in a state that is beyond the curing power of medical treatment. We take hospice care as care that covers the wellbeing of the whole range of patient’s body, mind and spiritual aspects as well as the wellbeing of patient’s family. The wellbeing of the medical careers is also considered an important part of the dying experience and hospice care of the patient.
The paper considers first the meaning of hospice in the Chinese tradition as well as in the modern world and why a good and peaceful death is so difficult to obtain by patient, patient’s family and the medical professionals. This paper constructs a Confucian theory of hospice care to meet the needs of a patient so that he or she could have a good time enjoying the last days in this world. Medical professionals have been using palliative as well as hospice care methods covering a much wider sphere of service to patient and patient’s family. I argue and show why the theories of bioethics, with the help of the law of upholding the patient’s right of self-determination, though have helped to solve some of the dilemma of end-of death of terminal patients, they failed to solve their needs so that they could rest in peace. The upholding of patients’ self-determination by law fares no better, because the realization of a good death for a patient is much more than medical treatment. Hospice care does much better, but it could not address the satisfactorily the last wishes of the patient, including his or her psychological satisfaction in family relationship, to be able to express his or her apologies, farewell, love and reconciliation with family members and friends. And last but no less importance is the hope for a better life after death. To satisfy all these needs and understanding the patient’s subjective values requires a full range hospice care grounded in the ethical view and culture of the patient. Confucianism would be a very inclusive approach that covers the quest of the patient in his or her pursuance of a death in peace.
This paper tries to present a full picture of Confucian philosophy and ethics with special emphasis on the natural endowments of human life, both moral as well as physical endowments, how to face the difficulties in meeting our best wishes without feeling defeated or neglected in such failures, to see how those ethical, psychological and spiritual elements are understood what constitute one’s good death and how their fulfilment would support the patient throughout the process of dying. In these considerations, Confucianism extends the hospice care for terminal patients involving family, intimate friends and medical professionals as well as friendly and lovely animals, in helping their mutual trust and support through good communications and cooperative activities with other patients and careers in a friendly community. The satisfaction and fulfilment of the last wishes of the patient is primordial for the patient and should be the first target of hospice care. In practice, we try to create a fully peaceful and comforting community so that patients suffer the least with diseases and the pain of leaving loved ones, enjoy the last minutes of self-controlling activities, including eating and drinking, be pacified with enjoyable communal activities, with loving and supportive family interactions, so as not to fear loneliness and desperation in the present life and without hope in the future. In such activities, the patient would live with dignity, wellbeing and high spiritual development and least depress in the advance towards death. | en_US |