Some graduate students enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work are working on a project that addresses the misconceptions of hospice care. They are concerned that too many people view a hospice referral as a death sentence. I recommend the article, and getting a copy of the report after the students present…
Category Archives: Death
Leave a good wake
There are many ways to serve our community. One fulfilling avenue is through hospice volunteering. What does a hospice volunteer do? preparing simple meals reading to the patient helping write letters listening/emotional support doing simple household tasks relieving the caregiver for short periods Most volunteers visit their families once or twice a week and will…
Health Care Reform- it starts with us
A NYTimes article in December, 2009 discussed lessons learned in end-of-life care. Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/health/23ucla.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 I read the article, and below I pasted some of its evocative statements: “It can be hard, sometimes impossible, to know which critically ill patients will benefit and which will not.” “Many acknowledge that the current payment system…
A Lenten hospice story
While I was traveling in Kenya last week I heard a moving story about hospice care. A man had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. When he received the news, he said to his friend, “This is a win-win for me. If by some miracle I live, I’ll be here with Nancy. If I die, I…
Telling patients the truth
Here is a link to a story and discussion about how doctors wrestle with telling terminal patients the truth about their condition. http://www.pallimed.org/2010/02/23-of-truth.html
Experiencing Haiti
I returned two days ago from a 9-day disaster response trip to Haiti. While in Port-au-Prince, I took video and wrote what I was seeing and doing. Here is a sample: “All is well here. At same hospital as yesterday. A lot slower. We are bringing in 15 post-op patients who will stay here until…
60 Minutes and Hospice
Last week the CBS show 60 Minutes featured a segment on end of life care. It covered a wide range of hospice issues. Doctors rarely talk to their patients about end of life issues Hospitalizations at the end of life are inordinately expensive (medicare incurs over half of its costs in the last few months of American’s…
All things new
It is common wisdom that we humans suffer more in losing health and function, than we do in death. The slow decline of body and mind, once young, healthy and aggressive, trumps the ache of passing away. I spent the weekend at a father-daughter retreat with my 10-year old daughter. It was a delightful time. The…
Ministry masquerading as hospice
This past week I attended a minsitry briefing for Prison Fellowship Ministries. During a lunch, one gentleman, a lawyer by trade, said that he has a ministry in town that masquerades as a law firm. We admitted a young person dying from cancer tonight. This patient has a young child and is married. It is one of…
Today you will be with me
One of our dear patients died last week from pancreatic cancer. Her husband of 40 years had gotten up on her bed and was lying next to her when she passed. One of their children came in the room and said, “I think she is gone.” The huband replied, “Yes. She died a little while ago.”…
