unit9endoflifecare临终关怀——21世纪研究生英语教材阅读教程下册.docVIP

Unit 9 End-of-life care临终关怀 Into the sunset桑榆迟暮 The idea that the terminally ill need pain relief and humane care instead of curing is catching on. But what about the people who just grow old? ?1?? 绝症患者所需要的不是“治疗”，而是减轻痛苦和人道关怀，这一点正逐步得到认同。但对那些走向死亡的老者又应如何？ MOST things may never happen: this one will. That stark allusion to death, penned by the poet Philip Larkin, sums up the philosophical starting-point of the hospice movement, which began in Britain 40 years ago and has since become influential, in various ways, in almost every corner of the world. Given that your time on earth is bound to finish one day, assuring a decent quality of life in the final months and years often makes better sense than trying to prolong a painful existence for a short period; so in many cases, loving care and pain relief should take priority over aggressive intervention. When Dame Cicely Saunders, who founded the?Saint Christophers Hospice in London in 1967, first aired those ideas, the medical world was hostile. Now her beliefs enjoy wide acceptance. 2??? “世间事多数未必发生，唯有这一桩必定发生。”诗人菲利普·拉金如此点出死亡的本质，而这也正是临终关怀行动的哲学依据。这一行动40年前肇起英国，此后影响逐步扩大，近乎扩展至全球。人生终须尽，有尊严地走过最后岁月往往强过痛苦地延续几天生命。因此多数情况下，应对患者给予悉心的关怀，帮助其减轻痛苦，而非粗暴地干涉天命。曾在1967年创建了伦敦圣克里斯托弗临终关怀院的桑德斯女士首次提出上述观点时，曾遭到医疗界的抵触。如今，已有为数众多的人与她抱有同样信仰。 ??? One sign of that change is the establishment of thousands of hospices, places dedicated to caring rather than curing. Another is the way in which doctors, nurses and patients in many other institutions have absorbed the movements thinking. 3??? 变化的标志之一是数千所临终关怀院的设立，这些机构致力于疗心而非疗身。标志之二，是许多其它机构的医护人员及患者均接受了临终关怀的理念。 ??? Americas first hospice was founded in 1974, and the idea spread rapidly. Half of all Americans will now use hospice care at some point in their lives, and around 75% of deaths in American hospitals occur after an explicit decision not to intervene. 4??? 美国的第一家临终关怀院成立于1974年。此后，临终关怀的理念迅速流行。如今，半数美国人在关怀院度过人生最后时光。美国75%的绝症患者选择放弃治疗，听凭天命。 ??? In Europe, too, there has been a revolution in attitudes to care for