Park Myung-hee, team leader at the hospice ward of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, helps families preserve final memories by dressing deceased patients in clothes they chose while alive. With 31 years of experience, she has cared for about 10,000 patients.
Park dresses patients after death in outfits selected during life, such as a pink dress for a five-year-old girl or a new school uniform for a 17-year-old boy. “The families who are left behind will remember for the rest of their lives the last image they saw of the patient,” she said.
She views the hospice not as a place to die but where patients can fulfill daily wishes, like eating a favorite food or expressing unspoken words. Staff work to meet these requests promptly to avoid regrets.
Park joined the ward in 1996 and helped develop guidelines for end-of-life care after training abroad. Having battled cancer herself five years ago, she now understands patients’ pain more deeply. She hopes for expanded inpatient hospice beds in Korea to allow more dignified endings.
