The Palliators

The story of how hospice is an important program of care, consequences of not using the services, and how my original plans for finding cures got derailed into becoming something equally as important.

Ageism is flourishing. We will discuss not only how ageism can adversely influence the way we manage care for our patients, but also how it impacts how the older age people see themselves. 

Burnout. Learn how it affects us, our patients and the healthcare system - and how to help ourselves and work toward change change

A discussion of typical things that may annoy your average hospice and palliative care provider and how to deal with those thing in a positive way.

Learn more communication tidbits to improve communication and understanding in the discussions you have with patients and their loved ones

Review of the treatment for malignant bowel obstruction with focus on medical management 

Common-sense approach to the management of nausea and vomiting.

A discussion of feeding tubes and recommendations from The American Geriatric Society and The Alzheimer Association. We review articles and findings to help with decision making.

So much of what we do tell our patients can be confusing, misunderstood, or even insulting. Learn expressions, phrases, and words to enhance your rapport with your patients and ease their anxiety. How we present information is significant. Learn ways that are sensitive and understandable.

Quality of Life has been key in the care of palliative care and hospice patients.  It should help to drive decision-making. Often the determination of quality is not decided by those who should.  This episode discusses QOL, refers to measuring instruments and articles. 

Empathy is an important aspect in caring for our patients. It helps our patients and helps us.  Learn more about its importance and learn about tools and skills to help with communicating empathy.

Get the straight poop on constipation and effective therapies and a discussion about the use of docusate.  Drawing from articles in several journals, including JPSM, we discuss the importance of management, eliminating ineffective interventions and providing useful treatment.

Shannon Dunavan, LCSW gives us tips on helping people through all stages of grief, but she focuses on what many think of as the more difficult stages of grief, anger and denial. She turns the tables and starts asking questions to give practical tools for providers caring for those who are processing their grief.

This is an interview with Shannon Dunavan, LCSW and a review of the stages of grief as described by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, MD. Find tips for understanding and helping people who are grieving.

An overview and discussion of futility with a brief history, tenets, cases and resources

The completion of an interview with a neuro ICU nurse - turned hospice nurse who faces terminal cancer at home with hospice services. She  courageously faces death with thoughtful intention as she focuses on living well.

An interview at the home of a neuro-ICU nurse turned hospice nurse who has terminal ovarian cancer and has chosen to spend the end of her life at home with help from hospice. She shares her experience.

This podcast discusses the JPSM article to help address patients' and families' hope for a miracle

Discussion of how to help patients face a serious situation without providing false hope.

Tips on using the SPIKES protocol for delivering serious or important news.

This podcast reviews concepts of palliative medicine and hospice for practicing physicians and physicians in training. It is a good introduction for medical students and other healthcare providers.The Hospitalist article: 10 Things Hospitalists Need to Know about Palliative Care and the Choosing Wisely initiative of the ABIM are discussed.