Content tagged with 'End-of-Life Planning'
“Go-to-Guy for All Things Medical” Tested at Mom’s End-of-Life
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 4, 2013 | Charles Ornstein
My father, sister and I sat in the near-empty Chinese restaurant, picking at our plates, unable to avoid the question that we'd gathered to discuss: When was it time to let Mom die?
Palliative Care: Easier Said than Done
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 1, 2013 | Conversation Continues
If we want our end-of-life wishes to be properly carried out, we have to prepare in advance and our clinicians must also be prepared to help us realize them.
Hospice Care: What Is It, Anyway?
PREPARED PATIENT ARTICLE
It's often hard for patients and their loved ones to acknowledge that the time to consider hospice care has come, but through the ups and downs of emotions and physical status, hospice team members are prepared to help patients and their families with sensitivity and flexibility.
Advance Directives: Caring for You & Your Family
PREPARED PATIENT ARTICLE
Starting conversations about end-of-life care with family members can be uncomfortable, but are worth having. Putting your wishes about end-of-life care in writing—with documents known as advance directives—can make a big difference in serious health situations.
Making Plans for Your End-of-Life Health Care
PREPARED PATIENT RESOURCE | Plan For Your End of Life Care
Though it may be uncomfortable to think about, putting your wishes about your end-of-life care in writing can make a big difference.
What Is Hospice?
PREPARED PATIENT RESOURCE | Plan For Your End of Life Care
Learn more about this important service that provides care and comfort in the months, weeks and days before death.
Prepared Patient: Advance Directives: Caring for You & Your Family
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | December 31, 2012 | Health Behavior News Service
Heather Rubesch first remembers talking with her mom, Linda, about end-of-life care as a teenager. "When I was 14, I had an aunt who passed because she did not receive a kidney transplant. As a family, we had that conversation-if something happened to one of us, organ donation was what we wanted to do," said Rubesch, 37, a business and marketing writer from Kansas City, Mo. Decades later, when Heather got the call from the hospital, informing her of her mother's terminal condition, she was shocked to discover she was expected to make immediate decisions about her mother's end-of-life care.
My Mother's End-of-Life Discussion That Changed How She Died
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | August 21, 2012 | Leana Wen
I am a physician. The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to end my mother's life. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 47. After a seven-year battle that involved multiple surgeries and countless rounds of chemotherapy, she decided that she had fought long enough.
People with Few Assets Less Likely to Plan for End-of-Life Health Care
HBNS STORY | August 16, 2012
Socioeconomic status is a big predictor of how likely people are to have living wills, a power of attorney for health care decisions or to participate in informal discussions about treatment preferences with loved ones. People with few assets were half as likely as those of more means to plan for these end-of-life concerns, a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior finds.
A Physician's Perspective on "Shifting to Palliative Care: Help Us Change our Pace"
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 20, 2012 | Jessie Gruman
Last week's essay, Shifting to Palliative Care: Help Us Change our Pace, provoked the following commentary from my friend and colleague, James Cooper -- to which I responded.
Shifting to Palliative Care: Help Us Change our Pace
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 13, 2012 | Jessie Gruman
It is easy to understand why the medical machine ' the clinicians, the tests and assorted medical procedures ' is poised to provide constant often heroic interventions to save and prolong life.
Guest Blog: The End of Life Horror Show: We Can Do Better
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 12, 2012 | Chris Langston
Recently, New York Magazine published an agonizing first person cover story by Michael Wolff, 'A Life Worth Ending,' about the terrible choices and harsh reality of illness at the end of his mother's life. The summary slug for the piece says it all: 'The era of medical miracles has created a new phase of aging, as far from living as it is from dying. A son's plea to let his mother go.'
Advance Directives: Rarely Easy, Always Important
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | April 10, 2012 | Inside Health Care
Three essays discuss the critical importance of advance directives'even when implementing them is tricky.
Guest Blog: Four Perfect Questions
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | April 9, 2012 | Elaine Waples
I remember when my father-in-law passed away nine years ago. A nervous young doctor had the uncomfortable task of telling him that nothing more could be done about his leukemia and it was perhaps time for hospice.
1st Person: Hospice, My Husband and Me
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | December 26, 2011 | First Person
As Jerome Rafferty, diagnosed with a progressive form of dementia and an incurable, antibiotic-resistant infection, became more ill, his wife, Renata Rafferty, used hospice services at home initially to assist her in caring for him.
Prepared Patient: Hospice Care: What Is It, Anyway?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | December 26, 2011 | Health Behavior News Service
Three a.m. can be a lonely time for caregivers. But when Renata Rafferty's husband Jerome struggled to breathe late one night, she knew she wasn't completely alone. Though it was the middle of the night when Renata called, the on-call nurse at their hospice responded immediately: arranging medical equipment and a nurse to check on Jerome. Now, months after Jerome's death, Renata says hospice 'is not the place you go to die, it's the place you go to celebrate and finish your life, in an environment where that is the sole and only focus.'
A Visa for the Dying: Travels to Another Country
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 21, 2011 | Janice Lynch Schuster
People who are dying have much living to do, whether it is measured out in days, weeks or months, and the demarcation lines between the living and the dying might as well be drawn in pencil. But the truth is that it's important to talk about dying and what it means to each of us.
The Costs of Long-Term Care
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 14, 2011 | Conversation Continues
Does long-term care insurance have a future? In this roundup, Nancy Folbre, Don Taylor, and Trudy Lieberman offer their forecasts and perspectives on its costs.
Guest Blog: Think Silver'Not Pink'for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | November 1, 2011 | Amy Berman
Because cancer is primarily a disease of aging, we shouldn't be thinking pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month'we should be thinking silver.
Health Reform's First Casualty
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | October 27, 2011 | Trudy Lieberman
The Obama administration has dealt a mighty blow to one part of the health reform law by effectively killing off the CLASS Act, which was to be a baby step in the development of a national program to pay for long-term care.
Benefits of End-of-Life Planning
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | October 7, 2011 | Conversation Continues
Two new studies have found there are numerous benefits when people discuss their end-of-life preferences with their clinicians and caregivers.
Patients with Implanted Cardiac Devices Should Learn about End-of-Life Options
HBNS STORY | October 4, 2011
An implanted device meant to correct heart rhythm may generate repeated painful shocks during a patient’s final hours, at a time when the natural process of dying often affects the heart’s rhythm.
Guest Blog: Can the Blind Lead the Seeing?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | August 1, 2011 | Amy Berman
Many of you know that eight months ago I was diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer, which has spread to my spine. My incurable diagnosis means that I live with a chronic disease, just like millions of older adults.
Easing Distress in Caregivers of Dying Patients
HBNS STORY | June 14, 2011
Interventions can buffer caregivers of terminally ill patients from the significant stresses they face in providing care to a loved one, a new Cochrane review finds.
Guest Blog: Making Hard Decisions Easier
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | June 13, 2011 | Amy Berman
Shortly after I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer a scan showed a hot spot on my lower spine. Was it the spread of cancer? My oncologist scheduled a bone biopsy at my hospital, Maimonides Medical Center, in order for us to find out.
Few Studies Delve Into Hospice Care in Nursing Homes
HBNS STORY | March 17, 2011
A new evidence review finds scant high-quality research on the best ways for nursing homes hoping to ease the suffering of older patients through hospice care. Still, the studies suggest that strategies such as teams of specialists and partnerships between nursing homes and hospice care services are essential.
Prepared Patient: Hospice Care: What Is It, Anyway?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 10, 2011 | Health Behavior News Service
Three a.m. can be a lonely time for caregivers. But when Renata Rafferty's husband Jerome struggled to breathe late one night, she knew she wasn't completely alone. Though it was the middle of the night when Renata called, the on-call nurse at their hospice responded immediately: arranging medical equipment and a nurse to check on Jerome. Now, months after Jerome's death, Renata says hospice 'is not the place you go to die, it's the place you go to celebrate and finish your life, in an environment where that is the sole and only focus.'
1st Person: Hospice, My Husband and Me
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | March 10, 2011 | First Person
As Jerome Rafferty, diagnosed with a progressive form of dementia and an incurable, antibiotic-resistant infection, became more ill, his wife, Renata Rafferty, used hospice services at home initially to assist her in caring for him.
Guest Blog: I'm Dying To Know
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 24, 2011 | Amy Berman
In some ways, I consider myself lucky. I know this is a strange comment from someone diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. I say this, though, because the first steps on my journey with end-stage cancer were undertaken with the help of a team of health care professionals who excelled not only in medicine, but also in communication.|
Can Good Care Produce Bad Health?
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | February 15, 2011 | Amy Berman
For those of you who haven't yet heard, I have recently been diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer. This rare form of breast cancer is known for its rapid spread. True to form, it has metastasized to my spine. This means my time is limited. As a nurse, I knew it from the moment I saw a reddened spot on my breast and recognized it for what it was.
Prepared Patient: Advance Directives: Caring for You & Your Family
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | January 3, 2011 | Health Behavior News Service
Heather Rubesch first remembers talking with her mom, Linda, about end-of-life care as a teenager. "When I was 14, I had an aunt who passed because she did not receive a kidney transplant. As a family, we had that conversation-if something happened to one of us, organ donation was what we wanted to do," said Rubesch, 37, a business and marketing writer from Kansas City, Mo. Decades later, when Heather got the call from the hospital, informing her of her mother's terminal condition, she was shocked to discover she was expected to make immediate decisions about her mother's end-of-life care.
Why Ask if You Won't Help Me
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | July 28, 2010 | Dorothy Jeffress
In a recent iHealthBeat post, Steve Findlay talks about a provision in the new meaningful use rules for health information technology issued by DHSS. Findlay noted that nothing seems to have moved the needle on people completing advance directives. He expressed hope that this can now be rectified if hospitals embrace the optional (menu set) meaningful use objective that promotes recording the existence of an advance directive in a person's EHR. It's a start.
Advance Directives Evolve to Ensure Better End-of-Life Planning
HBNS STORY | June 17, 2010
About Death and Taxes
PREPARED PATIENT BLOG | April 16, 2010 | Dorothy Jeffress
Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD)a day devoted to recognizing the importance of expressing your choices about your health care through advance directives, by creating a living will and designating a medical power of attorney.
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