Waiting for the body to fail: limits to end-of-life communication in Canadian hospitals

High-quality patient-centred care for hospitalised patients at the end of life requires health care teams to engage patients and families in communication and decision-making about goals of care. In the absence of such engagement, patient preferences may not be reflected in their care, and patients may be subjected to unwanted life-sustaining technologies such as mechanical ventilation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The DECIDE …