When a relative recently died, the text read, "She passed away peacefully." ~
Unless the death is due to violence, does anyone not pass away peacefully?
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hartfire · 61-69
I worked in aged care for three years.
I found that only 2% died peacefully, meaning died in their sleep with no pain or suffering.
Seizures, strokes and heart attacks were the most common cause of death in the very old (90 - 104 yrs).
Pain is a problem. Some can be reduced or eliminated with the right drugs. For nerve pain, such as post herpetic neuralgia, there is no effective solution - although antipsychotics can help.
This experience verified what we were taught during our training.
The average elder in aged care has at least 11 health conditions affecting their vital organs and requiring medication and monitoring.
Often, all contemporaries and friends have already died and with that comes grief and loneliness. Some outlive their families and have no one.
Unless a person is physically healthy and compos mentis, living to a great old age is no blessing.
With some innovative exceptions, most Western societies, despite their material wealth, are not good at the arts of palliative care.
I found that only 2% died peacefully, meaning died in their sleep with no pain or suffering.
Seizures, strokes and heart attacks were the most common cause of death in the very old (90 - 104 yrs).
Pain is a problem. Some can be reduced or eliminated with the right drugs. For nerve pain, such as post herpetic neuralgia, there is no effective solution - although antipsychotics can help.
This experience verified what we were taught during our training.
The average elder in aged care has at least 11 health conditions affecting their vital organs and requiring medication and monitoring.
Often, all contemporaries and friends have already died and with that comes grief and loneliness. Some outlive their families and have no one.
Unless a person is physically healthy and compos mentis, living to a great old age is no blessing.
With some innovative exceptions, most Western societies, despite their material wealth, are not good at the arts of palliative care.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@RedBaron 'Compos mentis' is not really a term of art, it is simply a Latin phrase meaning 'of sound mind'. It should be familiar to anyone who has English as their first language and is moderately well educated and to pretty much all Britons regardless of education. It is usually used in a slightly humorous sense. See https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/compos-mentis
I'm pretty sure that every English person that I know would not have any trouble at all understanding the phrase and would not react to it at all.
I'm pretty sure that every English person that I know would not have any trouble at all understanding the phrase and would not react to it at all.
RedBaron · M
@ninalanyon But not everyone here is English. Many of us are American, and that is not a commonly used term here. Why don't you keep it simple and just say "of sound mind?" Never assume that everyone reading a post knows what you know.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@RedBaron Does everyone know what sound means in this context? Exactly where is one to draw the line when choosing a word or phrase?
'Compos mentis' hardly counts as commonly used in British English either, are we then to restrict ourselves to the commonest thousand words in international English? Or five thousand, or five hundred?
'Compos mentis' hardly counts as commonly used in British English either, are we then to restrict ourselves to the commonest thousand words in international English? Or five thousand, or five hundred?
RedBaron · M
@ninalanyon I am not willing to debate semantics with you. All I am saying is that yes, it is best to use the simplest, most common possible words.
ninalanyon · 61-69, T
@RedBaron Yet you use the word semantics. Semantics to me is the science of meaning, but I'm not sure what you mean by "debate semantics".