WHAT IMPACT DO END-OF-LIFE CONVERSATIONS REALLY HAVE? Does it really make a difference when we talk about dying earlier rather than later? This answer depends highly on what difference you’re looking for—whether that’s the path of care, adherence to wishes, longevity, or other issues. Recently, NPR station WBUR approached this question by looking at […]
LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM DYING NONPROFITS The U.S. boast more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations, and much publicity goes into the openings of new ventures. But less investigation is given to the question of why so many nonprofit organizations end so soon after they begin—often only six to fifteen years. Courtney E. Martin, […]
DEALING WITH THE EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL PAIN OF GRIEF Losing a person who’s close to you can be hard enough, but the grieving often find that this pain is compounded by a lack of awareness or support that have far-reaching impacts. These pains may include effects on emotional and physical health. From both academic […]
VIRGINIA TECH’S JACK DUDLEY FINDS QUALITY IN HOSPICE The Roanoke Times published “Hospice gave Virginia Tech professor a good year longer to live.” Charles “Jack” Dudley, who taught for two decades in Virginia Tech’s honors program, felt the battle of two diseases: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. “I had these two doctors. They […]
RACIALIZED HEALTH DISPARITIES IN PAIN MANAGEMENT Yolonda Wilson, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Howard University, drove ten hours to visit her ill father in a Florida hospital. When she arrived, she was asking a nurse about his whereabouts when she heard his screams coming from down the hall. “Never mind. I hear him,” she […]
PHYSICIAN DIFFERENCES SURROUNDING PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED DEATH
CMS ANNOUNCES PLANS TO ALLOW MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS TO OFFER MEDICARE HOSPICE BENEFIT BEGINNING IN 2021
A WRAL Spotlight article addresses the importance of spiritual support during hospice care. The article notes that this support is important in: 1) Affirming that the individual’s life has had meaning and value. 2) Focusing on the importance of ensuring the patient dies an appropriate death. 3) Finding hope beyond the grave, such as finding […]
Forbes published “How to Choose Hospice Care” from Next Avenue contributor Liz Seegert. The story is part of a special report from The John A. Hartford Foundation. Seegert describes the roles of home hospice, hospital-based care, and stand-alone facilities. It also provides patients and families questions to consider including: Is the hospice Medicare certified? Is […]
“This is the beauty of my life,” Oprah Winfrey says, reflecting on her mother’s death. “There’s not a thing that happens to me, that I don’t look at it as a teaching, learning, experience.” She’d gotten a call from her sister Patricia, who thought her mother, Vernita Lee, was near the end of her life. […]
Death with dignity has wide public support, according to a Gallup poll, which found that 73% of Americans supported medical aid, as long as it is painless. Today, six states allow the practice under different names, but Next Avenue reports that patient experiences “run the gamut.” Dr. Jamie Wells, a medical ethicist and a director […]
In his career, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel has spearheaded the Affordable Care Act and the opposition to the legalization of euthanasia. In an interview with the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging published with Next Avenue, Dr. Emanuel lays out an urgent need to improve quality of life, and explains why he thinks we’re […]
What if psychedelics could revolutionize the way you die?
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is in the unique position to support increased education for hospice and palliative caregivers throughout Washington, by moving the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) forward in the Senate
The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management published “Hospice Underutilization in the U.S.: The Misalignment of Regulatory Policy and Clinical Reality.”
stories of the lived experience of handling a terminal diagnosis, focusing on what hospice and/or palliative care can do to allow the final days of a life to be peaceful and comfortable
When it comes to tissue donations, he asserts, “Tissue donation is a different matter. Tissues (e.g., skin, bone, heart valves, eyes, etc.) can be donated up to 24 hours following death, and the demand for tissues is also great.”
Clinical practice guidelines increasingly urge physicians to incorporate life expectancy into discussions about preventative care for older patients, and the study offers a window into patient sentiment in various scenarios.