Would a feeding tube make someone stronger near the end of life?

Australia · 29 August 2026 · 5 min read · Reviewed by Dr Kane Treble

Usually, a feeding tube does not make someone stronger when they are actively dying.

Usually, a feeding tube does not make someone stronger when they are actively dying. It cannot reverse the underlying illness or stop the body from shutting down. In the last days of life, tube feeding may add discomfort and risk without giving real benefit.

Feeding tubes can help some people in other situations, such as after a stroke when recovery is expected, or when a longer-term swallowing problem is stable and the person wants tube feeding. The question near the end of life is whether the tube will improve comfort, function or quality of life for this person now.

General information: This page gives general information for people in Australia. It cannot tell you exactly what is happening in one person's situation. If you have concerns about a symptom, medicine, treatment decision or change in someone's condition, contact their doctor, palliative care team, nurse or other treating health professional.

What a feeding tube does

A feeding tube provides liquid nutrition and fluid. A nasogastric tube goes through the nose into the stomach. A PEG tube goes through the skin into the stomach.

Tube feeding can be useful when the person cannot swallow safely but their body can still use nutrition, and when the expected benefits outweigh the burdens. It is a medical treatment, not basic mouth care.

Why it may not help when someone is dying

Near death, the body may not be able to use extra nutrition to build muscle or strength. The illness, organ failure, advanced cancer, advanced dementia or severe frailty may keep progressing despite feeding.

Tube feeding can also cause burdens. These can include discomfort during insertion, reflux, vomiting, diarrhoea, fluid overload, aspiration into the lungs, infections, tube blockage, tube changes, hospital transfer, or distress if the person pulls at the tube. A confused person may need extra supervision or medicines if they keep trying to remove it.

Advance Care Planning Australia notes that when loss of eating and drinking is part of dying, feeding tubes usually do not stop death because they cannot change the underlying disease process.

Advanced dementia and feeding tubes

Eating and swallowing problems are common in later-stage dementia. Australian dementia guidance supports palliative care that focuses on comfort, wishes and quality of life. RACGP material notes that in severe dementia, artificial feeding should not usually be used, and decisions about rehydration should involve carers and family.

This does not mean people with dementia should be ignored when they have eating problems. They still need careful hand feeding if safe, mouth care, texture changes when helpful, dental review, speech pathology advice where appropriate, and comfort-focused care.

What can be done instead

If the person can still swallow safely, offer small amounts of food and drink they enjoy. Keep portions small. Let them stop. Ask about safe textures and positioning.

If they cannot swallow, mouth care can still relieve dryness and discomfort. A nurse may show you how to moisten the mouth and lips. Sometimes a favourite taste can be used safely for comfort, but ask first.

The team should also check whether treatable problems are making eating harder, such as pain, nausea, constipation, mouth sores, dry mouth, poor dentures, medicine effects or delirium.

Questions to ask the treating team

Ask:

"What benefit do you expect from a feeding tube?"
"Is the person likely to become stronger, or is the body shutting down?"
"What are the risks for this person?"
"Would this need hospital or a procedure?"
"Could assisted oral feeding be safer or kinder?"
"What did the person say in the past about tube feeding?"
"What would make us stop tube feeding?"

If there is an advance care directive, care plan, or known preference about artificial nutrition and hydration, make sure the team has it.

When to get help now

Contact the palliative care team, GP, nurse or aged care staff if the person is choking, coughing with food or drink, losing weight before the final days, distressed by hunger or thirst, unable to swallow medicines, or if family members disagree about feeding.

Call 000 if the person is choking and cannot breathe, or there is a sudden life-threatening emergency and no end-of-life plan. If the person is expected to die and has a plan, follow that plan and contact the listed service.