AUTHORS EXPLORE RACISM IN PALLIATIVE CARE: “Racism permeates even the most sacred spaces, of serious illness and dying,” says an article in Health Affairs, “—a final blow that mandates the most absolute intolerance.” “Palliative Care In The Face Of Racism: A Call To Transform Clinical Practice, Research, Policy, And Leadership,” examines the systemic racism that […]
STUDY SHOWS HOSPICES OFFER FINANCIAL BENEFITS TO THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND TO FAMILIES While it has been shown in the past that the provision of hospice care saves money for Medicare, researchers did not know if “hospice saves money across all payers, including whether it shifts costs to families.” Researchers completed a study […]
STUDY EXAMINES CAREGIVER AND STAFF PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSITION TO HOSPICE CARE Innovation in Aging published “‘That Little Bit of Time’”: Transition-to-Hospice Perspectives From Hospice Staff and Bereaved Family.’” The article shares about a research study of hospice staff members and bereaved family care members whose loved ones were served by hospice. The detailed methods […]
MEDICAL SCHOOLS CAN BETTER PREPARE PROVIDERS TO “FACE THE VOID WITH OUR PATIENTS” “Why Don’t Medical Schools Prepare Us to Face the Void With Our Patients?” This question is the title of an article in Science The Wire, and the article appeared first in The MIT Press Reader. Authors of the article are physicians […]
PAPER CALLS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE ON “BRINGING DEATH BACK INTO LIFE” A Lancet Commission on the value of death calls for global sweeping change in how death is handled and how the process of death and dying become more balanced and less contradictory. Dying in the 21st century, says the report, finds “ While […]
COVID-19 LEADS TO INCREASE IN DEATH DOULAS AND GREATER FOCUS ON END OF LIFE An article in Time magazine says hundreds of people in the United States have joined the ranks of death doulas during the pandemic. The National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, says the article, “grew to more than 1,000 members in 2021, from […]
MORE BLACK-OWNED HOSPICES ARE NEEDED IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY An article in Healthline examines the need for more black-owned hospices to serve African Americans. NHPCO says, about “54 percent of white Medicare patients used the Medicare hospice benefits versus roughly 41 percent of Black Medicare patients enrolled in hospice.” Judi Lund Person, NHPCO’s […]
RETHINKING ADVANCE CARE PLANNING AS DEATH APPROACHES New York Times’ opinion column published “When Faced With Death, People Often Change Their Minds.” The author is Daniela J. Lamas, a pulmonary and critical-care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Lamas shares the story of one of her patients who had once been intubated. After […]
ARTICLE EXPLORES HOW PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS ARE ACQUIRING HOSPICES IN U.S. “Private Equity Is Gobbling Up Hospice Chains And Getting Involved In the Business of Dying” is written my Molly Redden, Senior Politics Reporter for HuffPost. The sub-title of the article is “One private-equity-led hospice chain has thousands of seniors in its care and millions […]
ARTICLE ASKS: “IS ‘DEATH WITH DIGNITY’ REALLY POSSIBLE?” During the past few decades, says an article in Psychiatric Times, “death with dignity has become a kind of battle cry.” The term has become almost synonymous with physician-assisted suicide (PAS). But in spite of his opposition to PAS, physician-author Ronald W. Pies says, his […]
ARTICLE EXPLORES THE USE OF DIGNITY THERAPY CONVERSATIONS FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES An article in Washington Post explores conversations about end-of-life care. The work of psychiatrist Harvey Max Chochinov and his dignity therapy is the focus of the article. In brief, dignity therapy is “a guided conversation with a trained therapist to allow dying […]
PAPER EXAMINES CHALLENGES HOSPICES FACE IN SERVING IN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES DURING COVID Kim Mooney is a Colorado-based thanatologist, hospice and bereavement expert, and founder of Practically Dying. Mooney is also author of “The Challenges of Providing Hospice Care in Long-Term Care Facilities During COVID-19.” The paper is a comprehensive review of these challenges, […]
FORSTER SAYS CMS HOSPICE SURVEY REVISIONS ARE “JUST THE BEGINNING” Theresa Forster is vice president for hospice policy and programs at National Association for hospice policy and programs at National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC). Forster says CMS’s finalized 2022 home health payment rule is “likely just the tip of the iceberg […]
ARTICLE FOCUSES ON THE WORK OF FUNDERS TO SUPPORT PALLIATIVE CARE An article in Health Affairs is titled, “Funder’s Support Of Palliative And End-Of-Life Care.” The article explores the attention given to palliative care, and reviews recent past, current and upcoming funding for palliative care initiatives. The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is […]
NHPCO REPORTS ON 2021 HOSPICE FACTS AND FIGURES NHPCO’s 2021 edition of NHPCO Facts and Figures reveals that there is a continuing ‘growth in the number of hospice patients with non-cancer diagnoses, including a principal diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, dementia, or Parkinson’s, which represented more than four times the number of patients who had cancer.” […]
STAFF SHORTAGES CAUSE SOME HOSPICES TO “ASK NEW PATIENTS TO WAIT” An article in New York Times, written by Paula Span, is titled “Short on Staff, Some Hospices Ask New Patients to Wait.” The article opens with the story of 89-year-old Anne Cotton who was told by Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care, which serves […]
DIGNITY THERAPY FOCUSES ON MAKING LAST WORDS COUNT An article in Knowable Magazine addresses the history of dignity therapy (DT), the importance of the therapy, the helpfulness patients and staff report, and the rarity of how often it is used in the US. Some people who are dying “wish for death and contemplate suicide.” […]
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS CONCERNED WITH VBID DECISION BY CMS Both the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the National Association of Home Care have shared their dissatisfaction with CMS’s announcement to move forward with the implementation of the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID). NHPCO called for a delay of this action […]
ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX REFLECTS ON THE EXPERIENCE OF DYING “Most of the time death won’t follow our script, says Zen teacher and end-of-life expert Joan Halifax. A Lion’s Roar interview features Halifax and her interview with Melvin McLeod. The idea of “good death” has become quite popular. Halifax says, however, that “the journey of […]
HOSPICE AND PALLITIV CARE PROVIDERS URGED TO CLAIM THEIR VALUE A IN EVOLVING HEALTHCARE SYSTEM While hospice providers understand the value they offer, people outside the hospice field “may see hospice and palliative medicine as a niche service for the last few days of life.” “This disconnection,” asserts an article in NHPCO’s Newsline Fall, […]