Where Is Palliative Care Now in the “Post-COVID” Landscape?

In the early days of the COVID pandemic, some palliative care and hospice programs found themselves pushed to the sidelines of the national crisis response. Patients “crashed” fast; doors closed to all-but essential facility staff; some patients put off seeking care for preexisting serious conditions and thus failed to get connected with hospice and palliative care.

Can Palliative Care Be Provided Entirely From Afar?

Palliative care is a humanistic, patient-centric form of healthcare that includes medical, emotional, and other supportive services for people who are confronting the impacts of a serious illness in many areas of their lives. Some have even called it “hand-holding,” although it involves much more than that.

3-by-3 for Effective Advance Care Planning/Directives

You’ll be hearing a lot all April about National Health Care Decisions Day (April 16) and the importance of doing your advance care planning and completing your advance medical directives. So here’s my wiki on advance care planning/directives, born of 20 years of study and teaching, giving and taking professional guidance, being a patient and a family member of patients many times over.

Palliative Care Education Scholarships Available for San Diego County Health Professionals 

To recognize National Health Care Decisions Day (April 16), the California State University Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care is offering $19,000 in scholarships to San Diego County health professionals seeking convenient, high-quality, online palliative care education.

Medical Cannabis Course Offers Information for Palliative Care Clinicians

As interest and use of cannabis-derived products for treating symptoms of illness grow across the country, hospice and palliative care practitioners are increasingly looking to understand how these products fit into the palliative approach for treating symptoms of serious illness.

A Moment for the HeART at the 2022 National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research

A space for self-care, reflection, and creative expression to be highlighted at the National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care in San Diego.

Reflections on a Palliative Care Response to Disaster

Read one physician’s story about how a devastating fire in Northern California impacted the community and first responders, the critical role the palliative care team played in time of crisis, and her call for systemic responses.

New “Essentials” of Nursing Education Create Opening for Palliative Care

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has just taken a major step toward ensuring that clinical competencies in primary palliative care and end-of-life care are incorporated into nursing teaching curriculums. Learn more.

Chaplain-Educator to Receive 2022 Doris A. Howell Award for Advancing Palliative Care

For the first time in the award’s 6-year history, a hospital chaplain, spiritual care educator, researcher, and leader has been named the 2022 recipient of the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care Doris A. Howell, MD, Award for Advancing Palliative Care.

Healing From Soul Injury Presented by Deborah Grassman at National Symposium

Mental health nurse practitioner, CEO and founder of Opus Peace, Deborah Grassman, NP, to speak about her research into “Soul Injury” at the 2022 National Symposium in San Diego.

Joan Fisher, MD, PhD, FAAP, to Address Pediatric Palliative Care

Nationally recognized pediatric clinician-educator, Joan Fisher MD, PhD, FAAP, will address pediatric palliative care and communication with medically complex children and families at the National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research in San Diego.

Expanding Rural Access Through Primary Palliative Care Training

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need for more accessibility to palliative care services. Addressing the disparity in access between rural and urban medical environments, and broader training of frontline clinical workers in primary palliative care, are imperatives, says guest blogger, Aldebra Schroll, MD, of the Butte-Glenn Medical Society.