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Life and death is often being described as the ‘yin and yang’ in Chinese where they are

inseparable. Living people will never know what death is unless they experience it. Thus there is

always fear of death; the fear of knowing what is in the afterlife. Terminally ill patients are one-

step closer to death than other healthy people and they will have to be prepared to face death

when the time comes. Different people have different views on death based on religions or own

beliefs, hence different paths will be taken for them before death. Medical technology is

constantly improving to aim to prolong lives, enhance the quality of lives and to help any

patients, including those who are suffering from terminal illness, answer the uncertainties.

Quality of medical treatment, care and services are improving due to the advancement in

medical technology which, at the same time, results in the rise of medical costs. What will

happen to a person who lost the ability to support the family after realizing that s/he has

contracted terminal illness? Will s/he fall in debt incurred from the medical treatment? Money

could be an important issue for the patients as not everybody will be capable in paying off the

expenses in finding treatment and to maintain their current quality of life. A terminally ill patient

who is wealthy will more likely be able to lead a life worth living as they might not need to

worry about medical treatment costs and could use their wealth in areas to benefit them socially,

psychologically and personally.

Wealthy patients can afford the quality medical services during their period of treatment.

Having better treatment and facilities could make the terminally ill feel at ease and could

maintain their current quality of life, depending on what the person is able to do or enjoy doing

in his or her daily life, but it does not mean that their health status will not deteriorate over time.

Callahan (2005) says that “the weakest sense of dignity in the context of dying focuses on the

loss of control”. There could be possibility that loss of autonomy might occur at some point in
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time. And often, it would be considered a loss of dignity as well. An example of a lady who lost

her mobility gradually needed external help to walk (Lavi, 2008) was identified. Most people

would not want to experience loss in mobility or body functions. It seems that money cannot stop

these incidents from occurring, but the hope in medical treatment to minimize the chances of this

happening is present. There will always be hope if one goes through medical treatment (Lavi,

2008).

Rich people are likely to be healthier as they can receive better services and health

treatment (Maich, 2006). In the event where the rich people are terminally ill, they would be

placed at an advantageous position as they can use their wealth to obtain higher quality services

to treat themselves. The terminally ill could go through new or developing technologies in view

of finding a hope to cure them which would require huge amount of funds to be invested in the

process. This could not be possible for the lower to middle income group of terminally ill

patients. Despite not being able to be cured of their illness currently, there could still be a hope

where medical researches and trials would extend lives of terminally ill patients ranging from a

few days to years (Callahan, 2005). Health conditions could be improved even if it is temporary.

The terminally ill, having the ability to spend on medical treatment means that there is a hope in

finding cures to the illness or to improve worsened health states. With wealth, it opens another

path to hope.

Wealth can lead to the freedom in decision making (Maich, 2006), as often rich people

can choose to appoint doctors or decide which hospitals to receive treatment in. James Russell

Lowell said that, “Wealth may be an excellent thing, for it means power, and it means leisure, it

means liberty” (Maich, 2006). It can be seen that rich people, to an extent, have the power to

make their own decision by seeking professional advices. Emotional needs are satisfied as the
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patients are open to more choices to maintain their quality of life with their wealth. It is common

to see wealthier patients stay in higher class wards with better services and facilities. This

contributes to the quality services they receive in their treatment which benefits them physically

and mentally as they tend to get more attention from the nurses and doctors.
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References

Callahan, D. (2005, Nov-Dec). Death: “The Distinguished Thing”, Hastings Center

Report Special Report, 35(6), S5-S8. Retrieved September 12, 2009 from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go2103/is_6_35/ai_n29224743/

Lavi, Shai. (Winter, 2008). How Dying Became A ‘Life Crisis’, Daedalus, 137(1), 57-65.

Retrieved September 12, 2009 from

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3671/is_200801/ai_n24392945/

Maich, Steve. (Feb 13, 2006). MONEY REALLY CAN BUY HAPPINESS. Maclean’s,

119(7), 26-29.

Retrieved October 18, 2009 from

http://www.singlearticles.com/money-really-can-buy-a4303.html

Rokach, Ami. (September 27, 2006). Coping with loneliness among the terminally ill.

Social Indicators Research, 82(3), 487-503.