Obstacles and Opportunities for Palliative Care in the ICU

Want to read more palliative care-focused content like this? Subscribe to Palliative Care News today! A growing body of research touts the benefits of palliative care for patients, families, and even providers. However, when evaluated through randomized clinical trials, the results tend to lean toward mediocre. Palliative Care News spoke with experts in the field to […]

The Case for Palliative Care in the ICU

An intensive care unit (ICU) stay often challenges everyone involved. Integrating palliative care could alleviate some of the suffering through symptom management, improved communication about goals, treatment and better training and resources for staff. As ICU admissions in the final year of life become increasingly common, the need for better holistic critical care is growing. […]

Keys to Effective Palliative Care Training Models

Palliative care clinical education avenues have expanded in recent years, but providers say the well may not be filling up quickly enough to meet demand. Communication and peer support elements are among the key training elements for palliative workforce sustainability and growth. Recruiting and retaining palliative care professionals can be a difficult feat for organizations, […]

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Geriatrician: Physician Residents Need to Learn Hospice Principles, Senior’s Specific Needs

Physicians in training need greater exposure to geriatric training in order to better grasp the needs of older patients, including during transitions to hospice, according to Dr. Julia Lowenthal, a geriatrician from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Lowenthal recently presented research at the American Geriatrics Society Meeting in which she found that many residents are unfamiliar […]

Population Health Models Can Help Hospices Admit Patients Earlier

Organizations are experimenting with population health principles to engage patients further upstream and move them into hospice earlier, if appropriate and concordant with the patient’s wishes and goals. This can contribute to improved quality of life for patients as well as cost savings for health care providers. Population health is in most contexts a term […]

Emergency Physicians Can Predict When a Patient Needs Hospice

Emergency department physicians are adept at predicting when a patient is likely to die and can facilitate patients’ access to hospice care earlier in the course of their illness, according to recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open. However, improved communication and coordination between emergency department physicians and hospice medical […]