Explaining Palliative Care: Matching Treatment to Patient Goals
March 29, 2010
I was consulted recently about an elderly woman who refused surgery for a large bowel obstruction from a colonic mass…
Q&A with Jeff Gordon – Author of “A Death Prolonged”
March 25, 2010
Many terminal patients linger through their final months with a miserable quality of life and too often with extreme levels…
Jennie Chin Hansen: New CEO of the American Geriatrics Society
March 22, 2010
All Posts · American Geriatrics Society · Geriatrics · Health Policy · Long Term Care · Nursing Homes · Seniors
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) gave us good reason to be optimistic about the future of our organization when it…
Social Workers Are Awesome
March 15, 2010
In 1927, Francis Peabody remarkedthat “The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.” Medicine…
Potpourri from Clinical Work II
February 28, 2010
I’ve been on the palliative care service these last two weeks. Some interesting and challenging issues came up. I don’t…
More on dementia and mammograms
February 17, 2010
All Posts · Cancer · Care Managers · Communication · Dementia · End-of-Life · Geriatrics · Mental Health · Palliative Care · Primary Care · Screening
We recently discusseda study that described the common practice of obtaining screening mammograms in women with dementia. We considered how…
A Call for Hospice Reform: Nurse Practitioners Lead the Way
February 15, 2010
Last week a physician colleague expressed her concern about signing routine hospice admission orders for her elderly patient with end…
The last year of life in the oldest-old
February 14, 2010
All Posts · Care Managers · Disability · End-of-Life · Geriatrics · Health Policy · Long Term Care · Seniors
There is a very interesting study in the January issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that characterizes…
Medicine In Translation
February 12, 2010
“But what will you be doing to cure my disease?” the interpreter said, relaying the words of our patient. Was…
Feeding Tubes in Advanced Dementia: It’s all About Location
February 10, 2010
Feeding tubes are often placed in the hospital setting for patients with advanced dementia, even though there is pretty much a lack…