Hydration at end of life [View all]

My DH is in hospice and I live in a senior community, so I've been having lots of EOL conversations lately. Two people with loved ones dying in hospice have both told me, in describing their loved ones' last days, that neither food nor water was given, nor offered, in the last days when death was obviously imminent. I'm struggling with this a bit.

My granny ended her life in that way, but by her own competent choice in her mid-90's, and I had no problem going along with her wishes. But in both cases that were described to me, neither the patient, nor the spouse/medical POA were consulted, as least as far as either spouse remembers. One is still very disturbed about this; the other hadn't connected the dots between withholding of hydration and death until she told me about it and I reacted.

Just by happenstance, my DH's hospice provider is a free-standing Catholic organization (we are non-religious) whose representative told me that they would offer hydration in the last days. I'd appreciate the views of others on this issue.