Advance Care Planning – less about tubes and more about talk
Have you seen the cartoon of a couple watching TV and talking about “life supports”. The man says “If I am ever dependent on a machine I want it to be unplugged”. At which point the woman gets up and unplugs the TV! When people discuss living wills and preferences at end of life, the […]
Live longer with palliative care?
A study published last summer in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who received palliative care early after diagnosis had a better quality of life and lived longer than those who received standard care. These patients also received less aggressive care. This research has received much publicity in […]
Canadian Virtual Hospice has done it again….
Last week a colleague showed me a most excellent article by Dr. Mike Harlos about DEHYDRATION. The thorough but easy to read article addresses: what it is, causes, sorting out the symptoms, managing dehydration, what you can do, and what your team can do.Link: https://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Main+Site+Navigation/Home/Topics/Topics/Symptoms/Dehydration.aspx Kath
Palliative Social Work – new book
I just got home from the annual assembly of the American Academy of Hospice Palliative Medicine and the Hospice Palliative Nurses Association in Vancouver BC. The Americans received a warm and wet/rainy welcome from the BCHPCA, CHPCA and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians. Dr. Fraser Black (Victoria Hospice Medical Director) and Wendy Wainwright […]
