The terminally ill need more psychological care, hospice doctors say.

"It's time for the Chinese to embrace the concept of 'natural death', which is already widely recognized in the West. What these people really need is considerate nursing care rather than stressful and fruitless suffering," said Guo Haoming, deputy director of Chaoyangmen Hospice.

Many people in China still have the idea that entering a hospice means waiting for death. That's why many still refuse to give up the search for medical treatment even after they have exhausted all possibilities, she said.

"First and foremost, the terminally ill need proper guidance to help them cope with approaching death. This is a change of mind that requires family and social support or religious beliefs," said Zhu Lin, deputy director of Songtang Hospice in Chaoyang district, the first privately run hospice in China.

"There are a lot of experts in adolescent psychology and marriage psychology. However, experts in old age and dying are still rare," said Zhu.

He said that there are only three psychologists in his hospice, which can accommodate more than 300 people, and the situation is no better in any other palliative care facilities in Beijing.

The first 15 days after a patient enters a hospice is vital, as they are at a high risk of anxiety and depression, he added.

Guo said there are some profit-driven end-of-life institutions that charge patients more than 10,000 yuan a month for using an oxygen machine. She said such practices are not only a waste of medical resources they also impose an unnecessary burden on the patients and their relatives.

Guo said she hoped that religious institutions will play a bigger role in end-of-life care, which she thinks is not merely a medical issue, but more of a social and psychological one.

A study on the 230 patients at Chaoyangmen Hospice between 1992 and 2004 found that religion is a comfort to many people near death.

"Clinical observations prove it is really important to let patients embrace their religious beliefs, as it helps them accept death more easily," Guo said.

For childless patients, both Zhu and Guo said volunteers can contribute a great deal by doing simple things such as chatting with the bedridden, reading newspapers for them, caressing and hugging them, or taking them outside for a walk.

"Volunteers are always welcome in hospices, the more the better. The last thing terminally ill patients want is to be isolated from the outside world and die alone. They are often more open to strangers," said Li Dong, 26, a doctor at Songtang Hospice, while touching the hands of a 95-year-old grandpa, who cannot speak, but keeps waving to every stranger passing by his ward.