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Health Reform in a New Era: Options for the Obama Administration Karen Davis of the Commonwealth Fund outlines several realistic scenarios on health reform options for the Obama administration: (Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:55:00 GMT) Washington Voters Pass Death with Dignity Act Assisted suicide measure passed by a vote of 58.68% (yes) to 41.32% (no). (Fri, 7 Nov 2008 18:16:00 GMT) Harvard PCEP program accepting applications The Harvard Medical School Program in Palliative Care Education and Practice (PCEP) is accepting applications for its 2009 trainings. The deadline is January 30, 2009. (Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:07:00 GMT) HFA Teleconference on Diversity and End-Of-Life-Care Hospice Foundation of America is registering sites for its upcoming videoconference on Diversity and End-Of-Life Care. (Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:16:00 GMT) Bill introduced to improve access to investigational drugs by terminally ill patients Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) have introduced the Access, Compassion, Care, and Ethics for Seriously Ill Patients Act (ACCESS) to make it easier for terminally ill patients to use treatments in the investigational phase of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. (Fri, 23 May 2008 10:45:00 GMT) OIG Presents Ways to Improve Quality of Nursing Home Care Lewis Morris, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, testified before Congress on ways to improve the quality of nursing home care. (Sat, 17 May 2008 19:50:00 GMT) Nursing home enforcement needs to get tougher, study says Center for Medicare Advocacy review of nursing home enforcement decisions shows that serious deficiencies often get only modest fines and penalties, calls for tougher action. (Fri, 16 May 2008 20:13:00 GMT) Inspectors Often Overlook Serious Deficiencies at U.S. Nursing Homes, GAO Report Finds State nursing home inspectors miss or minimize deficiencies such as malnutrition, severe bedsores, overuse of medications and abuse that pose threats to patients, according to a report by the Govenment Accountability Office . (Thu, 15 May 2008 9:50:00 GMT) FDA approves Relistor for treatment of opioid-induced constipation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Relistor™ (methylnaltrexone bromide) subcutaneous injection for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. (Tue, 6 May 2008 16:41:00 GMT) Size of the Medicare funding shortfall exceeds that of the mortgage crisis American Enterprise Institute study says that if Medicare is to pay all of its bills over the next seventy-five years, $36 trillion in general taxes, measured in today's dollars, must be transferred to the trust funds. (Tue, 6 May 2008 20:50:00 GMT) |
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Haiti's grief The loss of life in Haiti is overwhelmingly awful. Even worse is the fact that so many survivors won't have a chance to give their loved ones a proper burial. With the bodies of thousands of earthquake victims under the... |
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lesmorgan: Calif. Budget cuts endanger In-Home Supportive Services (good overview by Contra Costa Times staff writer) http://tinyurl.com/yj329sb lesmorgan: Calif. Budget cuts endanger In-Home Supportive Services (good overview by Contra Costa Times staff writer) http://tinyurl.com/yj329sb (Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:14:37 +0000) |
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hospice and health reform In the news this morning (Saturday): Democratic leaders are meeting with administration officials to fine-tine the historic health care overhaul package now in conference committee. In yesterday's Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com/amitai-etzioni/on-hospice-care_b_424536.html), Amitai Etzioni of George Washington University describes his very favorable... |
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Room for Change: Supportive Spaces Oh, the places you'll go, as Dr. Seuss exclaims! With the many new and awakening choices you are making in grief, some are demanded of you and some are chosen by you. One of the choices you have is to discover what kind of environment, besides your home, you can choose to surround you. In your solitude, a local library, may be a public space that provides you with movement of people yet not forced interaction. It will have fresh new magazines and publications awaiting your perusal or travelogues or reviews to engage you. Remember that what you do today,... |
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Facilitating needs based cancer care for people with a chronic disease: Evaluation of an intervention using a multi-centre interrupted time series design Background: Palliative care should be provided according to the individual needs of the patient, caregiver and family, so that the type and level of care provided, as well as the setting in which it is delivered, are dependent on the complexity and severity of individual needs, rather than prognosis or diagnosis. This paper presents a study designed to assess the feasibility and efficacy of an intervention to assist in the allocation of palliative care resources according to need, within the context a population of people with advanced cancer.Methods/design: People with advanced cancer and their caregivers completed bi-monthly telephone interviews over a period of up to 18 months to assess unmet needs, anxiety and depression, quality of life, satisfaction with care and service utilisation. The intervention, introduced after at least two baseline telephone interviews, involved a) training medical, nursing and allied health professionals at each recruitment site on the use of the Palliative Care Needs Assessment Guidelines and the Needs Assessment Tool: Progressive Disease - Cancer (NAT: PD-C); and b) health professionals completing the NAT: PD-C with participating patients approximately monthly for the rest of the study period. Changes in outcomes will be compared pre- and post-intervention.DiscussionThe study will determine whether the routine, systematic and regular use of the Guidelines and NAT: PD-C in a range of clinical settings is a feasible and effective strategy for facilitating the timely provision of needs based care.Trials registration: ISRCTN21699701 |
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Spring Volunteer Training begins Feb. 10 at hospice (Casper Journal) Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions will hold Spring Volunteer Training beginning next month. They are seeking “volunteers” to assist patients for respite care, companionship, transportation, light meal preparation, light housekeeping or the running of errands. (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:58:39 GMT) |
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Medicare.gov Data Updates This week the data for the following tools was updated on Medicare.gov: Nursing Home Compare Helpful Contacts Medicare Options Compare<. (Thu, 26 March 2009 11:30:45 GMT) |
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