Tube Feeding on Hospice — Increased Risk of Your Loved One Suffering
Published on July 14, 2023
Updated on September 7, 2025
Published on July 14, 2023
Updated on September 7, 2025
Table of Contents
When a loved one faces a terminal illness, families often wrestle with one of the most challenging decisions: whether to use tube feeding. As a hospice nurse, I’ve walked alongside countless families through this difficult choice, and I want to share what the medical research tells us about the real risks of tube feeding for hospice patients.
Tube feeding is a medical procedure that delivers liquid nutrition and fluids through a tube placed into the stomach or intestine. While it might seem like a way to help your loved one, the evidence shows that tube feeding often causes more harm than good for people in hospice care.
The primary goal of hospice care is comfort and dignity. Unfortunately, tube feeding can work against these goals in several important ways:
Contrary to what many families hope, research consistently shows that tube feeding does not extend life for hospice patients. In fact, studies reveal that:
One of the main reasons families consider tube feeding is fear of choking or pneumonia from regular eating. However, tube feeding actually increases pneumonia risk:
Pressure ulcers become a serious problem with tube feeding:
This dangerous condition can occur when tube feeding begins after a period of poor eating:
The cost of tube feeding extends far beyond the initial procedure:
Tube feeding brings significant medical risks:
Perhaps most importantly, tube feeding can interfere with the natural dying process:
Advanced dementia presents unique challenges when families consider tube feeding. Research specifically focusing on dementia patients reveals important findings that every family should understand.
Multiple large studies involving thousands of dementia patients have found that tube feeding:
Patients with advanced dementia face additional risks from tube feeding:
A comprehensive review of over 400 research studies found that:
I understand that watching a loved one with dementia struggle to eat is heartbreaking. Many families worry they’re “letting their loved one starve.” However, research shows that:
Instead of tube feeding, hospice care focuses on comfort measures that truly help:
Every family situation is unique, but the medical evidence is clear: tube feeding rarely provides the benefits families hope for in hospice care. Instead, it often:
The most important consideration is what your loved one would want. If they:
Then comfort-focused care without tube feeding may better honor their values and wishes.
In my years as a hospice nurse, I’ve seen how fear can drive families toward interventions that ultimately cause more suffering. The desire to “do something” is natural and comes from love. However, sometimes the most loving choice is allowing natural processes to occur while providing maximum comfort.
Tube feeding cannot cure terminal illness or dementia. It cannot bring back the person you’re losing. However, choosing comfort care can ensure their final days are filled with dignity, peace, and the presence of people they love.
Remember: Choosing not to use tube feeding is not giving up on your loved one. It’s choosing to prioritize their comfort and dignity during this sacred time.
Is my loved one being dehydrated to death?
Swallow Studies, Tube Feeding, and the Death Spiral
Artificial Nutrition and Hydration at the End of Life: Beneficial or Harmful?
Tube Feeding in Individuals with Advanced Dementia: A Review of Its Burdens and Perceived Benefits
American Geriatrics Society’s feeding tubes in advanced dementia position statement
Hospice Nutrition and Hydration for Your Patients
CaringInfo – Caregiver support and much more!
Surviving Caregiving with Dignity, Love, and Kindness
Caregivers.com | Simplifying the Search for In-Home Care
📚 This site uses Amazon Associate links, which means I earn a small commission when you purchase books or products through these links—at no extra cost to you. These earnings help me keep this website running and free from advertisements, so I can continue providing helpful articles and resources at no charge.
💝 If you don’t see anything you need today but still want to support this work, you can buy me a cup of coffee or tea. Every bit of support helps me continue writing and sharing resources for families during difficult times. 💙
VSED Support: What Friends and Family Need to Know
Take Back Your Life: A Caregiver’s Guide to Finding Freedom in the Midst of Overwhelm
The Conscious Caregiver: A Mindful Approach to Caring for Your Loved One Without Losing Yourself
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved
Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying
Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide to End-of-Life Medical Care
Providing Comfort During the Last Days of Life with Barbara Karnes RN (YouTube Video)
Preparing the patient, family, and caregivers for a “Good Death.”
Velocity of Changes in Condition as an Indicator of Approaching Death (often helpful to answer how soon? or when?)
The Dying Process and the End of Life
Gone from My Sight: The Dying Experience
The Eleventh Hour: A Caring Guideline for the Hours to Minutes Before Death
By Your Side, A Guide for Caring for the Dying at Home
Bridges to Eternity: The Compassionate Death Doula Path book series:
Additional Books for End-of-Life Doulas
VSED Support: What Friends and Family Need to Know
Find an End-of-Life Doula
Currently, there’s no governing body that regulates end-of-life doulas (EOLDs). Note that some EOLDs listed in directories might no longer be active; always double check.
End-of-Life Doula Schools
The following are end-of-life (aka death doula) schools for those interested in becoming an end-of-life doula:
The International Doula Life Movement (IDLM)
The International End-of-Life Doula Association (INELDA)
Laurel Nicholson’s Faith-Based End-of-Life Doula School
University of Vermont. End-of-Life Doula School
Kacie Gikonyo’s Death Doula School
National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA)
Keep in mind that currently, there’s no governing body in the end-of-life doula space that accredits schools. It’s a good idea to have discovery sessions with any doula school you’re considering, whether it’s mentioned here or you find it elsewhere, to make sure it meets your needs. Also, be sure to ask questions and check references, including speaking with older graduates, to see if the school they attended gave them a solid foundation for starting their own death doula business.