www.abcd-caring.org
www.medicaring.org
www.growthhouse.org
For information about how to install the application as a feature on your own web site send an email message to info@medicaring.org.
Thomas Lynch's New Collection Continues the Crossover, From the Literary to the Mortuary
With his new collection of essays, Bodies In Motion and At Rest : On Metaphor and Morality, Thomas Lynch continues his seemingly effortless dance in reflection on life and death, and the points at which they intersect. A poet, essayist, and funeral director, Lynch is well-known for an earlier collection, The Undertaking. In this collection, Lynch continues his reflections on family life, community, his work as an undertaker, the business of the funeral industry, Jessica Mitford, and several other intriguing subjects. Each essay reflects his wry vision of the world, alternately humorous and sorrowful. In The Bang & Whimper and the Boom he describes Baby Boomers' general desire to remake death: "Indeed the generation in the market now for mortuary wares is re-defining death in much the same way that three decades back we redefined sex and gender. I think we thought that we invented it all." (Norton, 2000, $23.95.)
President Proclaims September Health in Aging Month, 2000 On September 5, President Clinton declared September "Health in Aging Month, 2000." In his proclamation, Clinton stated, "The health of older Americans varies from individual to individual and can depend on many factors, but we all recognize the critical importance of quality medical care, financial security, and a caring support system to sustaining a high quality of life." He urged community leaders, government officials and others to work together to "ensure that older citizens enjoy fulfilling, independent, and productive lives."
Congressional Spouses Taking a Lead on End-of-Life Issues ABCD and Partnership for Caring worked with several congressional spouses to sponsor an end-of-life issues briefing on Capitol Hill. Spouses who organized the event include Jean Oberstar (D-MN), Linda Bachus (R-AL), Mary Clement (D-TN), and Priscilla Houghton (R-NY). "End-of-life issues and the current lack of knowledge about how to get assistance in learning about them concern me. Because my husband Jim and I lost our first spouses to cancer, we are among the many who have dealt personally with these issues," said Oberstar, wife of U.S. Representative James Oberstar. The group will meet again to discuss ways congressional spouses can work in their districts and states to help constituents find resources and to improve end-of-life care.
February Congress on Quality Improvement in End-of-Life Care Scheduled
The Center to Improve Care of the Dying at RAND and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will sponsor a Quality Improvement Initiative National Congress on End of Life Care for February 11-13, 2001, in Birmingham, Alabama. The National Congress will formally launch the new RAND/IHI Initiative; disseminate information about best practices and research findings related to quality improvement in end-of-life care; and help foster collaboration among participating organizations. Check www.abcd-caring.org and www.medicaring.org for more details. Planners are looking for proposals for seminars and/or posters to be presented that report on successful innovations. If you have a program or policy change that you would like to share with other providers, send an informal proposal to Casey Milne at Casey_Milne@RAND.org or call her at 703.413.1100, ext. 5461. The next IHI/RAND Breakthrough Series Collaborative will focus on general end-of-life care issues. This Collaborative will also begin in February, following the National Congress.
MEETINGS : National Meeting of State Cancer Pain Initiatives Focuses on End-of-Life Issues
By Jason Rasmussen American, Alliance of Cancer Pain Initiatives
The 11th National Meeting for State Cancer Pain Initiatives met in June in Kansas City. The theme, "Fanning the Flames-Stimulating New Growth" fueled plenaries, workshops, and the exciting networking charactersitic of this unique meeting. More than 160 participants from 40 states and Puerto Rico attended to discuss issues that bear on effective management of cancer pain. Speakers included experts from diverse health care disciplines, as well as educators and drug regulators.
The meeting's keynote speaker, Susan W. Tolle, M.D., F.C.A.P, a practicing internist and director of the Oregon Center for Ethics in Health Care, spoke about Oregon's experience with providing comfort and care for people nearing the end of life. Tolle recognized that the intense public debate surrounding Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law pressured policy makers and health care professionals to improve end-of-life care. Using this public pressure, Tolle's group formed end-of-life task forces that brought together patients, health care professionals, government leaders, and members of faith communities to discuss what people really want as they near their final days of life. Through this open dialogue, the Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, was created to ensure that an individual's treatment preferences are honored at the end of life. The POLST is a portable set of physician's orders that accompany patients during transfer between settings such as a hospital and nursing home. It spells out the type of treatment a terminally ill patient would want in urgent medical situations when they are incapable of expressing their wishes. A general session focused on the new groundbreaking standards from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) that require the nation's accredited health care facilities to make pain management part of patient treatment plans. More than three decades of research documenting the undertreatment of pain preceded the formulation of the new standards. Carol Patterson, MN, RN, of the Joint Commission Standards Interpretation Group, explained the revisions. Another session featured partners in efforts to promote cancer pain relief, including representatives of the American Cancer Society, the Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-Life Care, and the Outreach Team for the Bill Moyers Series, "On Our Own Terms."
Workshops focused on a full spectrum of issues related to improving pain management and building the initiative movement. Jim Guest, JD, of the American Pain Foundation, led a discussion on physician-assisted suicide legislation and the effect it might have on pain management. Beverly Little Thunder, a practicing nurse and member of the Lakota tribe, spoke about the barriers and challenges faced in treating pain in one Native American community. Paul Bergquist, MD, a family physician in rural Wisconsin, led a workshop on using alternative therapies in relieving pain. Other workshop topics included Burning Issues in the Ethics of Pain Management, Pain Management in a Rural Setting, Behavioral Approaches to Nonadherence to Therapy and their Implications, and Developing Initiatives through Practice Change Programs.
Participants left the meeting refreshed, energized, and ready to continue challenging the health care system to make pain management a national priority. "This was a life-changing experience for me, launching me back into activism," said one particpant.
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