Dying well in corrections: why should we care?

Why should anyone care how convicts die? For some, humane treatment is the right thing to do, but others feel criminals deserve whatever happens. American courts have affirmed society’s responsibility to provide a community level of care for prisoners. Many challenges confronting corrections in delivering excellent end-of-life care are similar to those facing the nation’s health care system. Chronically ill and infirm elderly patients often feel imprisoned by their disease, disability and confinement within medical institutions. Prison hospices represent a constructive development. The staff and inmate volunteers that work in them have important lessons to teach our contemporary society.