About Palliative Care

Now is the Time to Use Up Your Flexible Spending Account

2009-11-10T16:51:37Z

Flexible spending accounts (FSA's) are employer-sponsored benefits that allows you to pay for eligible medical expenses on a pre-tax basis. �If you have set up one of these accounts with your employer and haven't used up the money you've set aside, now is a good time to start spending those dollars. �Most plans don't allow you to carry over money each year so you might need to get creative on how you can spend the money before you lose it.

An FSA will cover items that can be very useful to palliative care patients and their caregivers. �It allows for reimbursement for things you might be spending on regularly, such as:

Adult diapers and other incontinent supplies
Wound care dressings and first aid supplies
Latex gloves
Medical equipment (walkers, shower chairs, wheelchairs, etc.)
Fees for hospital services, qualified long-term care services, accident and health, and qualified long-term care insurance premiums, nursing services, laboratory fees, prescription medicines and drugs, and insulin.

If you are a palliative care patient or the caregiver of one, chances are your spending money on at least one of these items. �Why not spend pre-tax dollars to get them? �Use up your hard earned money sitting in your FSA and remember to sign up for an FSA next year.

Now is the Time to Use Up Your Flexible Spending Account originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 16:51:37.

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November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month

2009-11-01T13:48:48Z

November is nationally recognized as Hospice and Palliative Care Month.� This is an excellent time to do whatever you can to raise awareness of hospice and palliative care and to support local and national programs providing or supporting palliative care.

What is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month?

How Will You or Your Organization Honor National Hospice and Palliative Care Month?

What is Palliative Care?

What is Hospice Care?

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 13:48:48.

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Report Find "Unbearable Pain", Underused Pain Meds in India

2009-10-29T16:06:18Z

A recent report by Human Rights Watch found an alarming number of Indian cancer and HIV patients are left to suffer without adequate, if any, pain control. The 108 page report, released on October 28, 2009 found that "many major cancer hospitals in India do not provide patients with morphine, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of their patients are incurable and likely to require pain treatment and palliative care." According to Diederik Lohman, senior health and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch:

"India's health care system abandons so many patients to severe pain. They are left to suffer; many told us that their pain was so bad they would prefer to die."

The report identified three key factors responsible for this underuse of affordable and effective pain control:

Restrictive drug regulations in India: Many Indian states have excessively strict narcotics regulations that make it very difficult for hospitals and pharmacies to get morphine. In 1998, the central government recommended that states adopt modified regulations, but more than half of India's states have not done so.
The failure to train doctors: Most medical students and young doctors receive no training on pain treatment and palliative care because the government does not include such instruction in relevant curricula. As a result, most doctors in India simply do not know how to assess or treat severe pain.
Poor integration of palliative care into health services: National cancer and AIDS control programs do not contain meaningful palliative care components, thus depriving such care of public funds and relegating it to second-tier status.

Interestingly, India is one of the largest producers of Opium, the key ingredient for Morphine. �Yet, the majority of the crop is exported while millions of Indian people suffer unnecessarily without adequate pain control.

Read the full Human Rights Watch report, "Unbearable Pain: �India's Obligation to Ensure Palliative Care"

What is Palliative Care?

Finding Palliative Care

Pain Management in Palliative Care

Report Find "Unbearable Pain", Underused Pain Meds in India originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 16:06:18.

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New Policy Loosens Federal Scrutiny of Medical Marijuana Use

2009-10-19T21:36:31Z

Medical marijuana advocates, users, and suppliers recently received some good news. �President Obama has implemented a new policy advising federal prosecutors to stop targeting people involved in the sale and use of medical marijuana in compliance with state law. �Fourteen states have legalized the medicinal use of marijuana, although the laws vary widely between them. �While this new Obama policy is good news for legally diligent citizens, many are still worried about complying with the web of state laws, which can be quite confusing.

Most medical marijuana proponents are excited by this decidedly different take on marijuana use which is in stark contrast to the Bush Administration's view. �They are optimistic that this brings us one step closer to nationwide legalization of medicinal marijuana. �And indeed, it's looking more and more like legalization is in the future. �Fortune Magazine ran tantalizing cover story in September about the legalization of marijuana. �I was surprised to find out that Obama had introduced this marijuana policy all they way back in February of this year. �Interestingly, although this was a huge step forward in the legalization process, this move by the President received little to no publicity. �The article is a great read and admittedly thought provoking.

I happen to live in California, the pioneer of medical marijuana laws. �Hospice patients in my area don't have a hard time getting approved for medical marijuana (okay, if we're being honest here, anyone with enough cash and some form of medical condition, real or made up, won't have a difficult time either). �The use of medicinal marijuana is rapidly increasing in the palliative care community and we are already seeing positive outcomes - reduced nausea, increased appetite, improved pain control, etc.

You might have some questions about medical marijuana and whether it's right for you or your loved one. �Here's some information to get you started:

Medical Marijuana: �Frequently Asked Questions

New Policy Loosens Federal Scrutiny of Medical Marijuana Use originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 21:36:31.

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CDC Confirms Sickest Flu Patients Have Comorbities

2009-10-15T19:20:42Z

The CDC has confirmed that the sickest patients with the pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) virus have other serious medical conditions. �The findings applied to both children and adults. �Among about 1,400 adults hospitalized with the flu, the most common pre-existing conditions were asthma, diabetes, chronic lung disease, chronic heart disease, and immunosuppression.

Most palliative care and hospice patients have at least one of these comorbidities, making the flu vaccine a near necessity for these patients and their caregivers. �Unfortunately, not all hospice agencies offer the vaccines to their patients. �If this is the case for you, contact your primary care physician and inquire about getting the vaccine. �Palliative care and hospice patients and their caregivers are a top priority for the vaccine so you shouldn't have much trouble finding the shots.

H1N1 Vaccine and You

CDC Confirms Sickest Flu Patients Have Comorbities originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 19:20:42.

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Happy World Hospice and Palliative Care Day!

2009-10-09T22:10:57Z

Get ready to celebrate...and spread the word about quality end-of-life care.� Tomorrow marks World Hospice and Palliative Care Day. The event is celebrated annually on the second Saturday of October to raise awareness of hospice and palliative care around the world.� Hospice and palliative care organizations are celebrating around the world in 70 countries and working hard to get the word out about choices and quality care at the end of life.

This year Voices for Hospice falls on the same day.� Voices for Hospice occurs bi-annually on the same date.� The event is celebrated with a wave of musical concerts around the world.� Want to attend a concert near you? Find locations of registered Voices for Hospice events near you by visiting the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day page.� Enjoy the music and help raise funds to support hospice programs world-wide.

Is� your hospice organization participating this year?� Share how you or� your organization celebrated World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2009.

What is Hospice?

What is Palliative Care?

Happy World Hospice and Palliative Care Day! originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 22:10:57.

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Coping With a Dying Loved One's Anger

2009-10-05T19:59:29Z

Anger is one of the five stages of coping with death. �The five stages - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (also known as DABDA) - we're made popular by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the 1960's and are still very relevant today. �Anger is, perhaps, the most universal of these stages; nearly every dying person feels angry at some point during their journey. �A dying person's loved ones and caregivers often bear the burden of this anger and may have a difficult time coping with it's repercussions.

There are some strategies caregivers and loved ones can use to cope with anger, and perhaps even help the dying person cope with it as well.

5 Tips for Coping With A Loved One's Anger

Coping With a Dying Loved One's Anger originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 19:59:29.

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Complicated Grief Getting National Attention

2009-10-01T17:12:14Z

An article published last week in the New York Times, After Death, The Pain That Doesn't Go Away, deals with the sometimes silent problem of complicated grief. �Complicated grief is grief that is prolonged, persistent, and severe and is sometimes referred to as "abnormal grief". �It interferes with a person's entire life, stripping them of their interests and desires in life and often takes the form of severe depression.

Complicated grief is being considered for spot in the DSM-V,the American Psychiatric Association's handbook for diagnosing mental disorders. �Until now, complicated grief hasn't been thought of as an actual mental disorder itself but rather an aspect of another existing disorder (think depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc). �That will all change if the decision is made to include complicated grief in the DSM-V, which is due out in 2012.

While there is no handbook for how one should grieve and for how long, there is a point when grief becomes serious and potentially dangerous. �An example of complicated grief offered in the NYT article:

In 2004, Stephanie Muldberg of Short Hills, N.J., lost her son Eric, 13, to Ewing's sarcoma, a bone cancer. Four years after Eric's death, Ms. Muldberg, now 48, walked around like a zombie. "I felt guilty all the time, guilty about living," she said. "I couldn't walk into the deli because Eric couldn't go there any longer. I couldn't play golf because Eric couldn't play golf. My life was a mess.

"And I couldn't talk to my friends about it, because after a while they didn't want to hear about it. 'Stephanie, you need to get your life back,' they'd say. But how could I? On birthdays, I'd shut the door and take the phone off the hook. Eric couldn't have any more birthdays; why should I?"

Four years of severe grief will take it's toll on a person's emotional and physical self and needs to be treated. �How can you know if your grief is complicate?

Grief: �What's Normal and What's Not

Complicated Grief Getting National Attention originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 17:12:14.

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Grey's Anatomy Does DABDA

2009-09-28T07:31:53Z

I've been waiting all summer in desperate anticipation for the season premier of Grey's Anatomy. Last season's closer left Izzy Stevens and George both in the cusp between life and death. Despite all the rumors of who was leaving the show and who wasn't, I wanted to see for myself who lived and who died. (Don't worry, that's all I'll say just in case you haven't seen it yet. No spoilers here!)

The season premier followed the staff of Seattle Grace through their grief, using the DABDA theory of dealing with death to explain how they were coping. The DABDA theory, made popular by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the 1960's, was originally thought to apply to a dying persons process of grief as they prepare for impending death and has evolved to include anyone grieving a loss of any kind.

Despite modern critics who say the DABDA theory is too concrete and linear to apply to everyone, the theory is very much still relevant. Kubler-Ross herself has said that the DABDA theory was never meant to be linear nor concrete; people will move through the grieving process touching on one or more of the five stages but not necessarily all of them nor in precise order. It's important for palliative care patients, caregivers, and loved ones to understand the five stages of grief so they can recognize each stage as it comes and support each other through them.

The DABDA Theory of Dealing With Death

Grey's Anatomy Does DABDA originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 07:31:53.

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Should Health Care Workers Be Required to Get Flu Vaccines?

2009-09-22T15:16:11Z

New York State has made an unprecedented step in preventing the spread of the flu virus in requiring that all hospital, home health, and hospice workers get seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccines. �That's right folks, I said requiring. �Health care workers in New York are none to happy about it either.

Union leaders across the state are disputing the emergency regulation made by state officials. �They say it should be the health care worker's choice whether to be vaccinated or not -- not the states.

The flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from contracting the flu virus and spreading the illness to others. �It makes perfect sense that health care workers are vaccinated -- they are in close contact with patients who are especially vulnerable to illness. �It's also important to keep our health care workers healthy so they are available to care for patients who are not. �But the question is, should they be required to be vaccinated?

I'd love to hear what you think!

Should Health Care Workers Be Required to Get Flu Vaccines? originally appeared on About.com Palliative Care on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 15:16:11.

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