“We deserve a home stretch that’s in keeping with the lives we’ve led,” Lee asserts. “We can ensure that the final phase of our lives reflects and upholds the values we cherish and the beliefs we hold.” She further invites readers “to join the movement for autonomy over how we live as we age”
Continue ReadingHospice offers so many options and opportunities to families. This Associated Press article appeared in today’s Washington Post (10-16-2012). It is worth reading.
Continue ReadingOn March 12, 2012, Dr. Bill Thomas and 186 culture change advocates gathered at the The Brookwood Community in Brookshire, Texas to share in a movement to transform the culture of care regardless of where people live. The day was filled with great food, great stories, and great new friends! We are pleased with the event’s […]
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Check out Dr. Ira Byock on the latest episode of Prime Time Radio explaining how to ensure the best possible care for those we love who are dying. In his book, “The Best Care Possible”, Byock emphasizes we must not only remake our healthcare system, we must also move past our cultural aversion to talking about dying and acknowledge the fact of mortality. It turns out, Byock argues, that we all must eventually balance the length of our life with the quality of our life.
Continue Reading The Atlantic Monthly’s March issue features a stirring book excerpt from one of the pioneers of the Hospice movement Dr. Ira Byock calling for a transformation of how our society and culture think about and care for people who are dying.
In his upcoming book “The Best Care Possible,” Byock points to a mainstream culture that utterly refuses to come to terms with the facts of mortality.
Continue ReadingI missed this MUST-read op-ed from The Washington Post while I was abroad last week so I am urging all ChangingAging readers to read “Our unrealistic attitudes about death, through a doctor’s eyes” by Minneapolis physician Craig Bowron.
So many elements of this editorial have been echoed on ChangingAging that I don’t know where to begin praising Bowron’s critique of American attitudes and detachment from death and its implications on our approach to aging.
Continue ReadingPalliative Medicine specialists do much to improve quality of life in persons with serious illness. But ultimately, providing better care to persons with serious illness demands that we improve the Palliative Medicine skills and competencies of thos…
Continue ReadingWe have learned a lot of lessons in Hospice and Palliative Care about how political discourse can impact our field and the care we give to individuals with serious illnesses. You only have to go back to January of 2011 to see how the hysteri…
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