Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement and palliative care, famously said, “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life.” This quote has become the central philosophical tenet of …
Category: Palliative care
Exploring psychedelic therapies [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Thaís Salles Araujo, an internal medicine resident. Discover the potential benefits, challenges, and the need for greater awareness and education in integrating these therapies into mo…
The power of listening in palliative care consultations
Finishing up a consultation in the ICU, the nurses approached me to see how it went. “Did you get the DNR?” I explained that I enter these conversations without an agenda. My first goal is to develop rapport, reading the room to gauge how f…
Open conversations about end-of-life care
An excerpt from The Adventures of Dr. Anonymous. During the COVID pandemic, I wished I could put out a public service announcement for physicians, patients, and families about end-of-life care. Palliative care is critical to hospitalist practice and on…
End-of-life ethics and antibiotic use [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Althea Halchuck, a patient advocate. We explore critical insights into end-of-life care, the ethical considerations around antibiotic use, and the quest for a peaceful, dignified death…
Empathy and compassion in palliative care [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! Join Vickie Leff and Terry Altilio, both palliative care social workers, as we delve into their book, Mirrors and Windows: Reflections on the Journey in Serious Illness Practice, which offe…
Dying is a selfish business
An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story. Whether you are the dying or the caregiver, living life to the fullest remains your goal, but somedays it’s just too darn hard. When you are so busy that it doesn’t seem you have time to take …
Dying is a selfish business
An excerpt from A Caregiver’s Love Story. Whether you are the dying or the caregiver, living life to the fullest remains your goal, but somedays it’s just too darn hard. When you are so busy that it doesn’t seem you have time to take …
Don’t disrupt success in Medicare
Each year, Congress goes through its annual budget process to determine how to spend more than $6 trillion on America’s priorities. This year, as part of the discussions on how to spend Medicare’s $900 billion budget, we are being told the Medicare Tru…
Terminal illness: Navigating the struggles of acceptance
Reality knocked me for a loop one evening when my father-in-law called from his home in another state and asked for help. This kind of request was very uncharacteristic for him. We responded immediately and drove to his home. After much conversation an…
