On food and fluids…
Pat Porterfield, one of Canada’s great hospice palliative care nurses once said that “if 75% of palliative care is about communication, then 75% of the communication is about decreasing intake”. It was interesting to me to watch my mother’s intake change as she was dying. She had a love for cheese and whipping cream. She […]
Patients benefit when caregivers receive support
In a recent article “The Critical Role of Caregivers in Achieving Patient-Centered Care” author Gillick writes: For caregivers (family caregivers) to make patient-centered care a reality for frail elders and those with advanced illness, they will need unprecedented education and assistance. In addition to supporting policies designed to reimburse caregivers for some of their services… […]
Lesson to be learned from the Liverpool Care Pathway?
The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was developed in Britain in the late 1990s to help ensure the dying receive excellent care no matter where they were dying. The LCP became the “gold standard” of care for those identified as dying. When a person was identified as dying, the routine orders associated with the LCP […]
Pain Management and Palliative Care for Mesothelioma Patients
Pain Management and Palliative Care for Mesothelioma Patients (Guest post by Faith Franz, researcher and writer for The Mesothelioma Center) After attempting to control the growth of a tumor, pain management is one of the most important goals of many cancer treatments. This is especially true for patients with mesothelioma, which is a rare and […]
