_ Caregiving Ten Tips for Caregiving Daughters - and Their Mothers By Jane Farrell article As MotherΓÇÖs Day approaches, many older women in a mother/daughter caregiving relationship may find it a bittersweet holiday. No matter … Read More→
_ Aging Well Medical Care Discussing Older Adults' Values & Goals Helps Guide Healthcare Providers By Sondra Forsyth article According to he Health in Aging Foundation, person-centered care puts individual values and preferences at the heart of healthcare decisions, … Read More→
_ Care More Expensive for Dementia Patients in Last Years of Life By Jane Farrell article The cost of care over the last five years of life for patients with dementia is significantly higher than for … Read More→
_ Caregiving Medical Care Better Communication Needed on End-of-Life Directives By Jane Farrell article Increasing numbers of people have advanced care planning, but a survey found that almost 40 percent of them didnΓÇÖt discuss … Read More→
_ Medical Care Senior Health Patient Directives May Change in Intensive Care Unit By article Although more and more people have set clear limits on how much life-sustaining therapy they want, intensive-care units across the … Read More→
Senior Health Older Trauma Patients Would Benefit from Palliative Care By Jane Farrell article Half of older adults who sustain injuries severe enough that they could die in the hospital or become unable to … Read More→
_ Health System Not Meeting End-of-Life Needs By article The U.S. health care system is not properly designed to meet the needs of patients nearing the end of life … Read More→
_ Doctors Don't Want Aggressive End-of-Life Treatment for Themselves By Jane Farrell article Although most physicians would choose a do-not-resuscitate code for themselves when terminally ill, they tend to pursue life-prolonging treatment for patients in a similar condition, new research shows. The study, conducted by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine, demonstrates a ΓÇ£disconnectΓÇ¥ that needs to be further explored. ΓÇ£Why do we physicians choose to pursue such aggressive treatment for our patients when we wouldnΓÇÖt choose it for ourselves?ΓÇ¥ said lead author VJ Periyakoil, director of the Stanford Palliative Care Education and Training Program.
Myths About Palliative Care By Jane Farrell article A specialized, multidisciplinary team approach to caring for seriously ill people and their families, is often errantly reduced to end-of- life care. This misconception has led to palliative care involvement being introduced late in an illness, often depriving patients and their families of comprehensive symptom control, support and assistance with complex decision-making throughout the course of their illness when it could provide the most benefit.
_ Guarding Against the Misuse of Language When Guiding Patients and Families on Death and Dying By Sondra Forsyth article A University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) perspective article published in February 2018 in the journal Perspectives in … Read More→
_ Cancer Overview Understanding Metastatic Cancer By Jane Farrell article The main reason that cancer is so serious is its ability to spread in the body. Cancer cells can spread … Read More→
_ Senior Health Patients Are Often Prescribed Potentially Futile Drugs in Their Final Days By Sondra Forsyth article Older adults often receive drugs of questionable benefit during their last months of life, according to the first study conducted … Read More→
_ Health Headlines Medical Care Racial Bias May Be Conveyed by Doctors' Body Language By Jane Farrell article When treating seriously ill patients, doctors give less compassionate verbal cues to black patients than to white patients, according to … Read More→
Aging Parents and Adult Children: When A Health Crisis Changes Everything By blog Fall housekeeping in the upper Midwest doesnΓÇÖt just mean cleaning out the gutters, raking leaves and getting ready for winter. […]
_ Specialist Docs Up Feeding Tube Use in Dementia Patients By article When elderly patients with advanced dementia are hospitalized, the specialties of the doctors at their bedside have a lot to do with whether the patients will end up with a gastric feeding tube -- a practice that some medical organizations recommend against for frail, terminal patients. That is the finding of a study done at Brown University and published in the April 2014 edition of the journal Health Affairs,
Advance Directives Critical for Elderly Still at Home By Sondra Forsyth article More than 70% of elderly Medicare beneficiaries experience cognitive impairment or severe dementia near the end of life and may need surrogate decision makers for healthcare decisions. Advance care planning for older adults with dementia may be particularly important for individuals who do not reside in a nursing home or a long-term care facility, according to research done at at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published in the April 2014 issue of Health Affairs.
_ Chemo at End of Life Ups Risk of Dying in ICU By article The use of chemotherapy in terminally-ill cancer patients in the last months of life is associated with increased risk of undergoing resuscitation and dying in an intensive care unit, suggests a paper published on bmj.com today. The researchers suggest that end-of-life discussions may be particularly important for patients receiving chemotherapy and suggest that caregivers should ensure that patients are aware of their prognosis, likely outcomes of treatment and that their choices are aligned with their end-of-life values.
_ Hospitals Can Learn from Hospices By article Training hospital and nursing home staff in the basics of palliative care can make the last days of a dying patient’s life as comfortable and dignified as possible, according to F. Amos Bailey of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Bailey is the leader of a study¹ that showed the value of introducing palliative care strategies, typical of hospices, within the setting of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.