98岁美国前总统卡特居家接受临终关怀！你知道“临终关怀”的英文如何表达吗？（附视频&解说稿）

Former President Jimmy Carter, who at 98 is the longest living president in American history, has decided to forgo further medical treatment and will enter hospice care at his home in Georgia, the Carter Center announced on Saturday.

“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the center said in a statement posted on Twitter. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”

The center did not elaborate on what conditions had prompted the recent hospital visits or his decision to enter hospice care. Mr. Carter has survived a series of health crises in recent years, including a bout with the skin cancer melanoma, which spread to his liver and brain, as well as repeated falls.

Jason Carter, one of Mr. Carter’s grandchildren and the chairman of the Carter Center’s board of trustees, said he had seen the former president and first lady on Friday.

“They are at peace and — as always — their home is full of love,” he wrote on Twitter.

Hospice is defined as care for terminally ill patients when the priority is not to provide further treatment but to reduce pain and discomfort toward the end of life. The former president lives with his wife, Rosalynn Carter, 95, in a modest ranch house that the couple built in Plains, Ga., in 1961.

Mr. Carter has defied illness and death for years, outlasting two presidents who followed him as well as his own vice president. He became the longest-living president in March 2019 when he passed former President George H.W. Bush, who died the previous November.

After Mr. Carter’s melanoma spread to his brain in 2015, he drew praise for announcing it publicly. Even as he underwent treatment, he continued to teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, as promised. Within months, he announced that he was cancer-free.

In 2019, Mr. Carter fell at least three times, at one point breaking a hip and at another requiring 14 stitches. Each time he bounced back, even showing up for a Habitat for Humanity home building project shortly after one fall.

But he has slowly retreated from public life lately, making fewer and fewer appearances or statements. He could not attend President Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, when former presidents traditionally convene, but Mr. Biden made a pilgrimage to Plains in April of that year to pay his respects, the first sitting president to visit Mr. Carter at his Georgia home.

In one of his last public acts, Mr. Carter filed a brief last yearsupporting an appeal by conservation groups seeking to overturn a court decision permitting a gravel road to be built through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. He argued that the construction would undercut the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which he had signed into law. He was said to be working on that issue as recently as last month.

“My name is Jimmy Carter,” he wrote in that brief. “In my lifetime, I have been a farmer, a naval officer, a Sunday school teacher, an outdoorsman, a democracy activist, a builder, governor of Georgia and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. And from 1977 to 1981, I had the privilege of serving as the 39th president of the United States.”

Mr. Carter was a political sensation in his day, a new-generation Democrat who after a single term as governor of Georgia shocked the political world by beating a host of better-known rivals to capture his party’s presidential nomination in 1976, then ousting the incumbent Republican president, Gerald R. Ford, in the fall.

Over the course of four years in office, he sought to restore trust in government following the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, ushering in reforms that were meant to transform politics. He negotiated the landmark Camp David accords making peace between Israel and Egypt, an agreement that remains the foundation of Middle East relations.

But a sour economy and a 444-day hostage crisis in Iran in which 52 American diplomats were held captive undercut his public support, and he lost his bid for re-election to former Gov. Ronald Reagan of California in 1980.

He spent his post-presidency, however, on a series of philanthropic causes around the world, like building houses for the poor, combating Guinea worm, promoting human rights in places of repression, monitoring elections and seeking to end conflicts. His work as a former president in many ways came to eclipse his time in the White House, eventually earning him the Nobel Peace Prize and rehabilitating his image in the eyes of many Americans.

Let me ask…  do you know someone with a serious disease  with a prognosis six months or less to live,  if the disease runs its normal course?  Are you trying to break the cycle of returning  again and again to the hospital or emergency room?  Have you seen how a life limiting illness  has diminished your loved one's quality of life?  Do you want to do something about this?  To move from treating an illness to caring for a person?  In this first video of our hospice education series  I want to help you understand what hospice really is. 

I will explain how specialized teams work  together to deliver personalized care to patients  and families. 

I want to help you understand that hospice  is a philosophy of care. 

One that reduces the burden of medical care  so patients and their families can focus on what truly matters,  their time together. Hello. I'm Karen Rubel,  President and CEO of Nathan Adelson Hospice,  the oldest,  largest and only non-profit hospice in southern Nevada. 

Over the years we've learned that when a patient is no  longer able or no longer wants to treat their life-limiting  illness their priorities change. 

What's important now is to find a way to experience  the best quality of life. 

Many people find that hospice is the right  answer for them or their loved one. 

Hospice is designed to meet the specific needs  of patients and families during the end of life journey. 

A terminally ill patient and their family often deal  with a complex mix of physical, social,  emotional and spiritual needs. 

We found the best way to address all these  different needs is with a team of skilled professionals  trained in end of life care. 

Most families would find it impossible to assemble  such a team. So hospice does it for you. 

These skilled professionals work closely  with you and each other to optimize care at every stage. 

We've produced a separate video that describes  in detail the different members of the hospice care team  and the important roles they each play. 

You can find the link in the description if you wish  to learn more. 

When a patient is receiving hospice care  this interdisciplinary group develops a plan of care. 

Using the plan the team coordinates  regular nursing visits,  assistance with personal care such as bathing,  as well as emotional, social and spiritual support. 

Prescriptions related to pain and comfort  are delivered to the home along with durable medical  equipment and supplies such as a hospital bed,  nebulizers, walkers and more. 

In general hospice will assist in any way it can  to make care as convenient and safe as possible. 

As a result you have more energy and opportunities to spend  quality time with your loved one. 

Hospice strives to make patients as physically  comfortable as possible while making the most  of the time that remains. 

Yet the end of the life journey affects more than just the body. 

It touches all areas of a person's life as well  as their family. 

Patients and their families face new  stresses which can trigger fear, anxiety or depression. 

Hospice professionals help you deal with emotional,  social and spiritual issues. 

Some of the problems brought on by a critical  illness are practical such as financial strains,  job related problems, insurance or legal issues. 

Hospice can help with advice on how to handle  these practical hardships too. 

It's important to know that hospice is not a place,  it's a philosophy of care. 

Given a choice most people would prefer to be  at home when they're ill. 

It's no different for people with a terminal illness. 

So almost all of hospice care is delivered in the home. 

For different patients their home may be their private  residence or that of a loved one,  an assisted living center or skilled nursing facility. 

There are times when inpatient care may be needed. 

There are several reasons why a patient may be admitted  to a hospice inpatient unit. 

When a patient has symptoms or pain that cannot  be treated safely at home…  Or the patient requires careful supervision only  available in a medical facility. 

Once stabilized patients can be transported to their  home to continue their care. 

For more information about where hospice care takes  place we put together another video that provides more detail. 

Just click the link in the description. 

Hospice is a complex topic so we encourage  you to continue with our hospice education playlist. 

We've put together helpful videos that walk you through  topics such as “Who pays for it…”  “Who is eligible to receive hospice care…” “What to expect…”  and more. 

The fact that you're exploring hospice is a very positive sign. 

It means you're considering what's best  for a loved one and their family. 

The philosophy of hospice is to provide support and care  so that people with a life limiting illness may live  as fully and comfortably as possible. 

At Nathan Addison Hospice we do all we can to make  sure that no one in our care ends the journey of life alone,  afraid or in pain. Thank you.