Source: www.nytimes.com
PITTSFORD, N.Y., USA, July 9, 2009: The Sisters of St. Joseph, an order of Roman Catholic women, have created a retirement community in this Rochester suburb which lends itself to successful aging and a gentle death. Factors include a large social network, intellectual stimulation, continued engagement in life and spiritual beliefs, as well as health care guided by the principles of palliative and hospice care.
“There is a time to die and a way to do that with reverence,” said Sister Mary Lou, 56, a former nurse. “Hospitals should not be meccas for dying. Dying belongs at home, in the community.”
Nearly half of the 150 residents live in “independent living” apartments, with proper equipment and adjustments. These are the sisters who have given up paying jobs and shared apartments because of encroaching infirmity. Forty sisters live in assisted-living studios, and another 40 in the nursing home and Alzheimer’s unit. A shared retirement fund covers lodging and medical care, along with the Social Security payments of the retired and the salaries of those still working.
Dr. Robert McCann, who provides primary care for most of the sisters, says “they have better deaths than any I’ve ever seen.”