In Brief
Quality of Death Ratings from The Economist
If it can be measured, this newspaper will measure it.
Britain leads the way with its emphasis on hospice and related end-of-life care practices. It rates almost a perfect 8.
The U.S. is second.It is not even close to Britain, however, with a score better than 6-plus.
Check out the chart with the link below.
“CUSTOMER-satisfaction surveys are, alas, unsuitable for rating the quality of death. So the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister group to The Economist, has devised a ranking of end-of-life care, published on Wednesday July 14th. It rates 40 mostly rich countries by how well they care for the dying. Britain tops the table. For all the health care system’s faults, British doctors tend to be honest about prognoses, the mortally ill get plentiful pain killers and a well-established hospice movement cares for people near death. Countries such as Denmark and Finland rank lower because they concentrate more on preventing death than on helping people die without suffering pain, discomfort and distress.”
Source: The Economist, July 14, 2010
