Language is Important! by JPM Columnist Marian Grant, NP
July 29, 2012 | 
Author
We all have experience with patients and families where what we say, and how we say it, matters. As palliative care professionals, most of us are expert communicators. We know, for instance, that talking about DNAR (Do not attempt resuscitation) vs. DNR (Do not resuscitate) can result in two different conversations.
But are we careful enough about the words we use when we talk about palliative care? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Advocacy, Communication, Education, Evidenced based medicine, nursing, Psycho-social, Reflective practice | 
Tags: palliative care language | 
4 Comments »
“A Palette of Care”: Haslinger Pediatric Palliative Care Center (Guest Post by Dr. Sarah Friebert)
At the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center, each child and family can pick and choose the colors they need or want to create the most beautiful painting possible of life and hope. This image was inspired by two simultaneous events: a letter received from one of our bereaved mothers, thanking us for the care we provided for her son, and a watercolor painting done by a young artist in our program, who was dying of a rare spinal cord tumor but who brought forth onto a canvas the image of a palette of colors as she depicted what palliative care had meant to her and her family during her journey. Read the rest of this entry »
“Olympic Moments in Palliative Care” by JPM Columnist Ryan Weller
Like the Olympians, successful palliative care practitioners are well trained and mentored. Unlike the Olympians, our Olympic Moments are unscheduled. Read the rest of this entry »
“You just go ahead and thump on my chest!” by JPM Columnist Donal Gordon
“You just go ahead and thump on my chest,” she tells me with a smile, after I tell her all that.
And I tell her okay.
Who am I to say to her, that even at 93, she doesn’t deserve this.... Read the rest of this entry »
“Posttraumatic Growth: A Personal Example” by JPM Columnist Susan Cadell
In the mid-90s, I was experiencing more grief and loss than I could have ever imagined. It was the height of the AIDS epidemic in Canada, and many of my friends were dying. As a young straight woman with numerous gay male friends, I was impacted by HIV/AIDS more than most of the people around me. Read the rest of this entry »
“Why palliative care? Why now?” by JPM Columnist Rita Marie Moscola
I wonder what in our medical journeys led us to Hospice. Are we the physicians who remember feeling that something was missing? Are we the physicians with an interest in ethics and existentialism? Or, is it that we are at the age when friends and family are dying? Read the rest of this entry »
How it all began: Founding the first US free-standing pediatric palliative care center (Guest post by Dr. Barbara Beach)
It began with Jim. He was a big-hearted, courageous young man dying of cancer, and I was a young pediatric oncologist at the beginning of my career, not 10 years his senior. Jim simply wanted to die at home, in the company of his mother, away from the hospital where he had spent so many weeks and months battling his disease. Yet as hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to make his final wish possible Read the rest of this entry »
Facing Death
How do you feel about your graying hair and stiff joints? Sometimes I’m asked to visit people with the specific purpose of helping them deal with being flat on their backs. Perhaps it’s the “workaholic” syndrome, and we secretly want the reputation of working too hard. Read the rest of this entry »
Comparing Symptom Burden in Patients with Metastatic and Nonmetastatic Cancer. (Guest Post by Mike Rabow, MD, USCF)
Our study demonstrated that at least a sizeable minority of patients with curable cancers can still suffer as much as patients with advanced cancer who might be expected to die of their disease.
Having found significant unmet need among these cancer patients, the question remains what other patients have significant unmet needs that a palliative care clinic can help address?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Access to care, Advocacy, Cancer, Disease specific issues, Non-pain symptoms, Pain, Palliative Clinic, Psycho-social, Quality of life, Religion, Religion Religious, Spirituality | Comments Closed
A Randomized Clinical Trial on Family Hospice Caregivers (Guest Post by George Demiris, PhD)
We designed a randomized non-inferiority trial with two groups, Group 1 in which caregivers received Problem Solving Therapy face to face, and Group 2 via videophone. The study purpose was to compare the effectiveness of a PST intervention delivered face to face and via videophone to hospice primary caregivers. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy Birthday to JPM Social Media!
As of today (July 1, 2012), your JPM Social Media is a one year old!
To this date, we have a total of 173 posts written by about 38 inter-professional experts, 565 comments, a total of 1406 subscribers through and about 2200 hits per day! Yes, everyone, your JPM Social Media blog is definitely a very popular and high-traffic site. Read the rest of this entry »
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