World hospice and palliative care news roundup – 12 February 2015

Categories: In The Media.

Which doctors should “own” end-of-life planning?

Channel News Asia

The duty to guide patients through the end-of-life decision-making process rests squarely upon primary care providers, writes one internist in The New England Journal of Medicine, maintaining that her colleagues should better support seriously ill patients earlier and throughout the course of disease.

NHPCO forms new council to address underutilization of hospice care in diverse populations

US – News Medical

As Americans celebrate Black History Month, hospice professionals acknowledge that hospice utilization within African American communities is disproportionately low. 

DNR status and palliative care underuse negatively affect bleeding stroke patients

US – American Heart Association blog

Do-not-resuscitate status and the under use of palliative care negatively impact best care practices in patients who survive nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding within the brain), according to two studies presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2015.

Cancer Patients And Doctors Struggle To Predict Survival

US –npr shots

Anxiety makes it difficult to remember details – and the worse the prognosis, the less the patient tends to remember. Recent studies have found that cancer patients retain less than half of what their doctors tell them.

If You Have Dementia, Can You Hasten Death As You Wished?

US – npr shots

If you make a choice to hasten your own death, it can actually be pretty simple: Don’t eat or drink for a week. But if you have Alzheimer’s disease, acting on even that straightforward choice can become ethically and legally fraught.

Better end-of-life care for Australians from all walks of life

Australia – Transforming the Nation’s Healthcare

Aged care facilities across Australia will receive Federal Government funding to form collaborative links with palliative services to cater for our ageing and diverse population.

California cancer patient sues for right to doctor-assisted death

US – Reuters

A 53-year-old California woman suffering from leukemia sued the state’s attorney general and San Francisco’s top prosecutor on Wednesday seeking the right for physicians to aid the terminally ill in taking their own lives.

Equipment library would help ill and the elderly

New Zealand – Health Canal

A University of Canterbury student has come up with a novel library-style scheme to help sustain quality of life for people who are disabled, ill or need end-of-life care.

Atul Gawande on why doctors often fail their dying patients

US – The Washington Post

Atul Gawande brought his-best selling book on end-of-life care, “Being Mortal,” to the small screen Tuesday night in an hour-long documentary providing a deeply intimate look at patients in their final days, their families, and the doctors wrestling with patients’ expectations — as well as their own.

Great Ormond Street Hospital testimonial

UK – Little Stars TV

Testimonial from Liz Crighton, Practice Educator Paediatric Palliative Care Foundation Programme Project, The Louis Dundas Centre

Ten facts about childhood cancer everyone should know

ehospice International children’s edition

Sunday 15 February is International Childhood Cancer Day. In acknowledgement, ICPCN has drawn up a list of ten disturbing facts about childhood cancer that everyone should know.

Paediatric palliative care warrants greater focus in Australia

ehospice Australia

The state of paediatric palliative care in Australia was up for discussion at a function in Parliament House Canberra this week.

PBS’ FRONTLINE “Being Mortal” available online

ehospice USA

“Being Mortal” a powerful episode from the PBS series FRONTLINE was broadcast on February 10, 2015 and is available on the PBS website.

New spiritual care resource for Veterans, service members and military families

ehospice USA

HealthCare Chaplaincy Network introduces a national service addressing the spiritual needs of Veterans, current service members, and military families.

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