Grace Cherian Blog: Today far too many Americans do not die in the way they would choose. Surveys indicate, for instance, 90 percent of people say they want to die at home surrounded by family. Only 10 percent will say in a hospital or nursing home, according to Donna Wilson, professor of nursing at the University of Alberta and a researcher into dying in Canada.
But instead 70 percent die in hospitals and other health care facilities, often spending their last weeks in intensive care units. In some cases this may be necessary, but in many cases it isn’t.
Wilson’s most recent survey focuses on the dying preferences of Albertans but other research from Canada and around the world over the past two decades confirms these results. The surveys include both healthy and terminally-ill people.