Health ministry honors 33 people and 7 groups at 14th Hospice Day

The health ministry said Tuesday it awarded 40 citations to 33 people and seven organizations at the 14th Hospice Day ceremony in Yongsan District, Seoul, recognizing work on hospice and palliative care and on the country's life-sustaining treatment system.

About 130 people attended, including Vice Health Minister Lee Hyung-hoon, officials from the National Cancer Center and the Korea National Institute for Bioethics Policy, and representatives of medical societies.

Hospice and palliative care in Korea is aimed at patients with cancer, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic cirrhosis and chronic respiratory failure, focusing on controlling pain and symptoms and providing psychological, social and spiritual support to patients and their families. The life-sustaining treatment system sets the standards and procedures under which treatments that only prolong the final stage of dying can be withheld or withdrawn. Both operate under the Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life.

Among those honored was Park Jong-woo, director of Metro Hospital's hospice center, for patient- and family-centered care. Nurse Pyo Su-jin of St. Carroll Hospital was cited for hospice training for local residents, and Kim Kyu-rim, a social worker at Dongnae St. Mary's Hospital, for covering medical costs for terminally ill patients without family. Park Mi-ri, a volunteer at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea, received a citation for 5,893 hours spent caring for terminally ill patients. In the life-sustaining treatment category, Professor Kim Sun-young of Asan Medical Center in Seoul was recognized for widening in-hospital guidance and counseling, while Gumi Public Health Center and counselor Kim Kyung-soon of Aune Silver Welfare Center were honored for expanding advance directive registrations through outreach and counseling.

The ministry also produced a single information package covering the treatment decision system, hospice and palliative care, organ and tissue donation registration and funeral support, to help people prepare for the end of life in advance. It will be distributed from November through the National Agency for Life-Sustaining Treatment Management, the Central Hospice Center, the Korea Organ Donation Agency and the Korea Funeral Culture Promotion Institute.

Lee said the ceremony was meaningful for conveying gratitude to the doctors, social workers and volunteers who work quietly in the field, as the importance of a dignified and comfortable end of life grows with Korea's move into a super-aged society. "The government will continue to work for the development of hospice and palliative care and the life-sustaining treatment system, including expanding services that all citizens can access and improving how the system is run," he said.