Palliative Care Resource Center
National Health Decisions Day,
April 16, 2010
It is "HOPE". . .
The Institute of Medicine (1997) defined palliative care as care which ". . .seeks to prevent, relieve, reduce, or soothe the symptoms of disease or disorder without affecting a cure."
Palliative care is medical treatment that is directed to "care" for the physical, spiritual and psychological needs of patients and support for their caretakers.
Palliative care should be available to both adults and children early in the course of any medical treatment, and particularly in treatment of serious, chronic illness.
It should be provided alongside any medical treatment intended to "cure" illness and continued to provide quality of life "care" when there is no cure.
Palliative care is the response to a patient's and family's hope for effective pain management and emotional comfort from physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and other health providers who never stop caring, who never give up on comfort, who always put the patient first. Palliative care is the "good news" in difficult times of serious, chronic illness.
Palliative care is not restricted to those who are dying. It is focused on the patient and caretakers to recognize the pain and anxiety which accompany serious, chronic, life-limiting illness. Palliative care should be available to both adults and children early in the course of any medical treatment.
to ". . . live while you're alive"
more from Bon Jovi at YouTube. . .
End-of-Life Planning: "Life Panel? Death Panel? more from PBS . . .
B.W. Winnicott, OU Physicians Family Medicine Center
Bow Wow Winnicott, named after British child psychoanalyst Donald Woods D.W. Winnicott, and known by children in foster care as "Winnie" is a soft-coated wheaten terrier. She assisted her owner, Annette Prince, JD, LCSW, in therapy with Native American children in foster care in Anadarko, Oklahoma, and also helped at inpatient psychiatric units for Childrens' and University Hospitals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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The Secretary of HHS sent a comprehensive report to Congress entitled "Advance Directives and Advance Care Planning." The report, requested by Congress in 2006, focuses on (1) the best ways to promote the use of advance directives and advance care planning among competent adults as a way to specify their wishes about end-of-life care; and (2) addressing the needs of persons with disabilities with respect to advance directives. You can link to the report at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/2008/ADCongRpt.htm It includes an excellent literature review on every aspect of advance care planning, analyses of key ethical and legal issues, and a discussion of opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of advance care planning and advance directives.
The report is particularly timely as health care reform is in the public policy forefront, and several bills are pending on the Hill regarding advance care planning and improving care near the end of life.
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New Blog for Bioethics/Palliative Care Issues Discussion
http://bioethicscenter.blogspot.com
Missouri "Practical Bioethics Center Blog" Raises Ethical Questions
- Perception Versus Reality: The Facts Regarding Prosecutions and Disciplining of Doctors For Abuses Involving Controlled Substances, NAAGazette, September 24
- Study Finds Few Pain Doctors Face Criminal Prosecutions, New York Times, September 20
- Building an Aging Friendly Community, October 24, 2008,
Address inquiries to:
Annette Prince, Director
Oklahoma Palliative Care Resource Center
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It Takes a Team: Communication Among Older Patients, Families and Health Care Providers . .video, Jane Carney
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"Oklahoma Advance Directives: What You Need to Know"
Presentation and supporting documents by Linda Edmondson M.S.W., L.C,S,W.
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Special Report by Betty Ferrell, OU Grad, on spiritual care as part of palliative care, more . . .
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OUHSC Family Medicine Dog honored by American Medical Directors Association Foundation in the Caring Canine Calendar, Order copies online
