Sierra Community Care, Mettle Health Partner on Guiding Palliative Care, Hospice Decision-Making

Sierra Community Palliative Care is partnering with Mettle Health to help patients and families navigate potentially life-changing health care decisions. Sierra is the palliative care arm of California-based Hospice of the Foothills, designed to care for nonterminal patients who have serious or chronic conditions. It seeks to aid with symptom management, prevent unnecessary ER visits, […]

Sierra Community Palliative Care Reaps Rewards of Dignity Health Collaboration

A collaboration between a Dignity Health hospital and Sierra Community Palliative Care promises to be a winning combination with far-reaching results for the larger community. In early 2024 Dignity Health Sierra Nevada Memorial awarded Hospice of the Foothills in Nevada County, California, a generous $94,000 grant for its subsidiary Sierra Community Palliative Care. Sierra provides […]

New Dementia-Focused Payment Model Emphasizes Caregiver Support

Without family caregivers, most hospice and palliative care patients would be unable to receive care in the home. Now, some emerging payment models are including caregiver support as a key component. Case in point is the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) model, which the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled in […]

Keys to Discussing ‘Hard Realities’ in Pediatric Advance Care Planning Conversations

Many clinicians across the health continuum lack the training and skill sets needed to have goals of care conversations for pediatric patients. Advance care planning discussions are an important, but oftentimes challenging key to supporting serious and terminally ill children and their families, according to Dr. Chris Adrian, a pediatric palliative care physician and writer […]

Mettle Health Stepping Up Clinical Education

Many patients fall through the cracks of the nation’s health care system, and hospice and palliative care providers can help to fill in some of those gaps, according to Sonya Dolan, director of operations at California-based Mettle Health. Mettle Health took root in 2020 when hospice and palliative care physician BJ Miller co-founded the for-profit […]

Psychedelics, Cannabis Show Promise in End-of-Life Care, But More Research Needed on the Risks

Research is growing around how certain substances such as psychedelics and cannabis can aid in treating pain, anxiety, depression, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, migraines and other medical conditions. Medical cannabis can also be beneficial in symptom management for cancer patients, according to recent research. For instance, certain compounds in the cannabis plant hold […]

How Psychedelics Could Change Palliative Care

Some in the serious illness space believe that psychedelic-assisted therapy represents a new frontier in palliative care, even though the substances remain illegal at the federal level. In recent years, research into the potential medical uses of psychedelics and ketamine has abounded. The focus to date has been concentrated on three areas: mental health, palliative […]

Systematic Change Needed to Support Family Caregivers of Hospice Patients

Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. Families caring for seriously ill loved ones face systemic barriers that could threaten patients’ ability to receive care at home, including at the end of life. If a family can’t withstand these burdens, the […]

Changing Hospice Conversation Key to Improving Caregiver Support

Support for family caregivers of seriously ill patients is both limited and fragmented, but changing the conversation about the end of life could fill some of the gaps. Nationwide, existing support and services are often scarce or insufficient to meet families’ needs, according to Ben Marcantonio, COO and interim president and CEO of the National […]

Hospice Unattainable for Some Families Without Caregiver Support

The nation’s health care system is lacking in support for caregivers of the terminally ill, who are often left with a heavy financial and logistical burden. Without assistance or relief, these difficulties can impede access to hospice. Research has shown that patients who are faced with end-of-life decisions may be less likely to choose hospice […]