BJ Miller: What really matters at the end of life
BJ Miller: O que realmente importa ao final da vida
Using empathy and a clear-eyed view of mortality, BJ Miller shines a light on healthcare’s most ignored facet: preparing for death. Full bio
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para erguernos.
para preguntar,
barullo
were horsing around,
dun tren de cercanías aparcado.
a parked commuter train.
with the wires that run overhead.
cos cables enriba del.
unha idea moi boa.
like a great idea at the time.
estúpidas.
e iso foi todo.
and that was that.
with death -- my death --
coa morte (a miña morte),
my long run as a patient.
como paciente.
de disfunción,
of dysfunction --
a hospice and palliative medicine doc,
de coidados terminais e paliativos,
who goes into healthcare
aos servizos sanitarios,
are also unwitting agents
somos tamén axentes involuntarios
demasiado a miúdo.
does not serve.
answer to that question,
é sinxela
with diseases, not people, at its center.
nas enfermidades, non nas persoas.
it was badly designed.
deseñáronse mal.
of bad design more heartbreaking
sexa máis descorazonador
for good design more compelling
dun bo deseño
and concentrated.
to reach out across disciplines
as distintas disciplinas
a esta conversa.
into this big conversation.
e a creatividade
opportunity in front of us,
diante de nós,
e como sociedade:
about death isn't being dead,
de morrer, non é a morte,
it can be very helpful
pode axudar moito
which is necessary as it is,
que é preciso tal como é
essential part of life, part of the deal,
é unha parte da experiencia,
adaptarse e crecer grazas a ela.
to make space, adjust, grow.
to realize forces larger than ourselves.
que son superiores a nós.
converteuse nun feito, permanente
became fact, fixed --
este feito máis que a min mesmo.
reject this fact than reject myself.
but I learned it eventually.
pero co tempo entendino.
about necessary suffering
o sufrimento necesario
is where healing happens.
produce a curación.
as we learned yesterday --
on the other hand,
inventado
is unnecessary, invented.
se inventou a marca do sufrimento,
since this brand of suffering is made up,
something we can affect.
de morrer.
to this fundamental distinction
en canto á diferenza
e o innecesario
and unnecessary suffering
sobre o deseño que abordaremos hoxe.
design cues for the day.
as people who care,
coidadores, persoas que coidan
not add to the pile.
coidado paliativo,
of a reflective advocate,
important field but poorly understood --
eido moi importante e incomprendido
durante a fin da vida,
limited to end of life care.
and living well at any stage.
cómodamente e ben en calquera momento.
have to be dying anytime soon
estar a morrer
avanzada e con VIH desde hai tempo.
on top of long-standing HIV.
sobre a súa vida
out loud together about his life --
his losses as they roll in,
a medida que se suceden
o que está por vir.
the next moment.
but regret, quite another.
o pesar é outra ben distinta.
Norman Rockwell
out of a Norman Rockwell painting --
when he came into clinic one day,
chegou á clínica
do río Colorado.
down the Colorado River.
and his health, some would say no.
e a súa seguridade, moitos dirían que non.
mentres el aínda era capaz.
while he still could.
scorpions, snakes,
escorpións, serpes,
saían do Gran Canón...
of the Grand Canyon --
fóra do noso control.
beyond our control.
que moitos tomariamos,
so many of us would make,
que é o mellor para nós.
what is best for ourselves over time.
is a shift in perspective.
son cuestión de perspectiva.
when I went back to college,
ao volver á universidade,
estudar historia da arte.
I'd learn something about how to see --
aprendín como mirar
for a kid who couldn't change
que non era quen de cambiar,
we humans get to play with,
que os humanos podemos xogar
at an amazing place in San Francisco
incrible en San Francisco
para terminais,
que axuda a cambiar a perspectiva.
that helps with this shift in perspective.
cando se está a sacar o corpo polo xardín,
wheeling the body out through the garden,
enfermeiros, voluntarios,
nurses, volunteers,
ou un silencio
de flores.
with flower petals.
para pasar acompañar a dor co cariño,
to usher in grief with warmth,
in the hospital setting,
nun hospital:
e alarmas
lined with tubes and beeping machines
mesmo cando a vida dos pacientes cesou.
even when the patient's life has.
the body's whisked away,
o corpo desaperece
nunca existiu realmente.
had never really existed.
in the name of sterility,
en nome da esterilidade,
os nosos sentidos
desas paredes é adormecemento
within those walls is numbness --
the opposite of aesthetic.
I am alive because of them.
estou vivo grazas a eles.
and treatable illness.
e enfermidades curables.
Non están deseñados para iso.
that's not what they were designed for.
giving up on the notion
poden ser máis humanas.
can become more humane.
de queimados
Livingston, Nova Jersei.
in Livingston, New Jersey,
en todos os turnos,
great care at every turn,
para a dor.
palliative care for my pain.
complaining about driving through it.
queixábanse de ter que conducir así,
toda apegañenta.
coming down all sticky.
smuggled in a snowball for me.
tróuxome unha bóla de neve.
holding that in my hand,
ao sostela na man
entraba na miña pel queimada.
onto my burning skin;
derreterse e converterse en auga.
and turn into water.
parte deste universo
in this universe mattered more to me
deume canta inspiración precisaba
all the inspiration I needed
se non o facía.
and be OK if I did not.
I've known many people
coñecín moita xente
para morrer.
some final peace or transcendence,
final ou unha transcendencia,
pola vida que tiñan.
by what their lives had become --
living with chronic and terminal illness,
con enfermidades crónicas ou terminais
or prepared for this silver tsunami.
lle pareza, para o tsunami prateado.
dynamic enough to handle
suficientemente dinámicas para manexar
da nosa poboación.
something new, something vital.
algo novo, algo vital.
for designers of all stripes to work with.
de toda clase poden traballar.
que está ao bordo da morte:
who are closer to death:
e aliviar aos seres queridos,
and unburdening to those they love;
of wonderment and spirituality.
de asombro e espiritualidade.
dos nosos residentes cos detalles sutiles.
from our residents in subtle detail.
debido á ELA.
one day to the next due to ALS.
se fan o favor.
autodestructiva.
mentres os fuma.
while she has them.
aos pés da súa cama,
at the foot of her bed,
correndo polas súas venas.
coursing through her veins --
where in a moment, in an instant,
nun nomento, nun intre
loving our time by way of the senses,
que se ten, aproveitando os sentidos,
e morre).
doing the living and the dying.
is our kitchen,
conta
non poden comer case nada.
can eat very little, if anything at all.
damos sustento a diferentes niveis:
sustenance on several levels:
happening under our roof,
levamos a cabo,
auténticas que coñecemos
interventions we know of,
the possibility of accessing
conectados.
e morren con demencia.
living and dying with dementia.
the things we don't have words for,
cousas para as que non temos palabras,
of the system was our first design cue,
é o desafío número un do sistema,
by way of the senses,
por medio dos sentidos,
(a esfera estética)
the aesthetic realm --
and final bit for today;
e último punto do día.
sobre que é o benestar
to set our sights on well-being,
e a sanidade
máis marabillosa
more wonderful,
no coidado do paciente, da persoa.
or human-centered model of care,
creativo, creador
becomes a creative, generative,
contexto,
highest forms of adaptation.
adaptación máis importantes.
que esixe ser humano.
it takes to be human.
impulsou a cociña.
deu lugar á arquitectura.
has given rise to architecture.
á moda.
is a necessary part of life,
necesaria da vida,
we take a light approach to dying
á lixeira o tema da morte
maneira de morrer.
any particular way of dying.
que non podemos combater
that cannot move,
todos temos que afrontalos.
we will all kneel there.
marchar,
to play itself all the way out --
getting out of the way,
un proceso de ascenso cara a fin.
a process of crescendo through to the end.
one way or another.
outra razón, pásanos a todos.
around this fact,
en función a este feito,
beleza ou un significado
a shock of beauty or meaning
un momento perfecto
for a perfect moment,
con intensidade,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
BJ Miller - Palliative care physicianUsing empathy and a clear-eyed view of mortality, BJ Miller shines a light on healthcare’s most ignored facet: preparing for death.
Why you should listen
Palliative care specialist BJ Miller helps patients face their own deaths realistically, comfortably, and on their own terms. Miller is cultivating a model for palliative care organizations around the world, and emphasizing healthcare’s quixotic relationship to the inevitability of death. He is a hospice and palliative medicine physician and sees patients and families at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Miller’s passion for palliative care stems from personal experience -- a shock sustained while a Princeton undergraduate cost him three limbs and nearly killed him. But his experiences form the foundation of a hard-won empathy for patients who are running out of time.
BJ Miller | Speaker | TED.com