Coming Together in Times of Crisis

COVID-19 Pandemic Has Underscored Need for Palliative Care

By Jennifer Moore Ballentine

When I wrote a blog on the role of palliative care in the unfolding pandemic on March 11, the U.S. had confirmed 1,281 cases of COVID-19 and 36 deaths from the virus; today, a little over 2 months later, we have confirmed more than 1.5 million cases and are on track to hit 100,000 deaths by June 1.

Through it all, palliative care has been front and center.

All aspects of living and dying and caregiving and grieving have been upended and turned inside out in just these few weeks. Within days of my writing the blog, our staff dispersed to remote work, learning to juggle the already huge demands of our work with homeschooling, caregiving, and the high anxiety attached to every sniffle and every trip to the grocery store.

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Hospice COVID-19 Unit Offers Patients, Families Needed Support

By Larry Beresford

Some Louisiana families whose loved ones are dying from COVID-19 have found solace in a specialized hospice unit that is caring for patients infected with the virus.

Heart of Hospice Inc. opened its inpatient COVID-19 unit on April 15 in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. The company, headquartered in Charleston, S.C., with locations in five states, is one of several hospices across the country opening or converting inpatient facilities to serve COVID-19 patients.

In hospitals and other acute-care settings, patients with the virus are isolated, with visitors banned to lower the risk of new infections. Those dying from COVID-19 are often alone or surrounded by strangers, a heartbreaking scenario for patients, families, and bedside clinicians.

Offering another option has been a priority for hospices that have the resources and abilities to make it happen. Specialized COVID-19 hospice units have been a godsend for patients nearing death and their families.

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A Unique Healthcare Decisions Day

COVID-19 Crisis Illustrates Importance of Advance Care Planning

By Larry Beresford

As healthcare professionals across America grapple with or prepare for a surge of COVID-19 cases, ICU placements, and deaths, many are emphasizing the importance of advance care planning to help people clarify their medical wishes and values.

Advance care planning encourages us to think about what kind of medical care we would want if we were too sick to express our wishes, while advance directives are a tool used to document certain healthcare decisions.

On April 16, National Healthcare Decisions Day, it is worth asking how the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced or changed our ideas about advance care planning. Experts say it has created unique opportunities for people to talk about difficult topics like the possibility of a catastrophic illness.

“This year’s National Healthcare Decisions Day may be the most important one we’ve ever had,” said Susan Enguidanos, PhD, a palliative care researcher and associate professor at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “Many of us have more time on our hands as we are sheltering at home. You can take a little time, have the conversation with your loved ones, and talk about worst-case scenarios.”

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The Role of Palliative Care in a COVID-19 Pandemic

Palliative Care Strengths Such as Communication, Advance Care Planning, and Symptom Management, Needed Now More Than Ever

By Jennifer Moore Ballentine

In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems and healthcare professionals are stressed and bracing for or already managing an influx of affected patients. The coronavirus presents a severe acute care crisis of unknown duration, in which potentially hundreds of thousands of people may get sick, some critically, and tens of thousands may die.[1]

In this context, the usual concerns of palliative care—quality of life, discernment of patient goals, advance care planning, pain and symptom management, and support for caregivers over protracted trajectories—seem pale and to pale in comparison. And yet, I would argue, palliative care has never been more important.

Those who are elderly, frail, and/or with underlying chronic or serious illness are most at risk from the novel coronavirus. These are palliative care’s core patient population. Utilizing the unique skills and strengths found in palliative care must be part of the response.

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