The Final Days

As a person enters the final stage of life, it can be a period of distress and emotions for all involved. The person and their family might be too upset to think or talk about things, and both try to “protect” the other by avoiding challenging conversations.

However, having these crucial conversations with someone who is dying and planning ahead can lead to a better death experience (a “good death”). Health-care professionals can participate with you and your family in these types of conversations, if desired, and assist as the final days and hours draw nearer.

In the final phase of progressive life-limiting illness, people and their families face changes, challenges and choices that are unfamiliar and can seem overwhelming. Learn what to expect as death nears.

Both the person who is dying and those who care for them may have questions and concerns about what will happen physically and emotionally as death approaches.

There are physical changes when a person is nearing death (minutes or hours), particularly in skin colour and breathing, that can indicate that the body is in the process of shutting down. These reflect the normal dying process, and cannot be prevented by medical treatments. Sometimes these changes can be concerning to those at the bedside, as we’re not used to seeing them. In this final phase, the person will almost certainly not be conscious and will not be aware. Health professionals believe that hearing is our last sense to go, so reading, singing and talking to your loved one is important right up to the time of death.

Interior Health recognizes that every person and their family have traditional, spiritual, cultural and religious rituals that are important to be honoured, and that an opportunity be provided to practice what is important to you. Every person’s needs are unique. Please identify to your health-care professional what is important to you so that we make efforts to accommodate various meaningful rituals in our care settings.

Simple acts of caring are in themselves rituals. In difficult times, these acts may take on extra significance. They can become ways of ordering and calming the feelings that arise. All rituals can be a source of comfort for the family, caregiver and the one who is dying.