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Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
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Rutgers Health Study May Improve End-of-Life Care: Medicare data analysis finds that people typically follow one of nine paths -
Mary Oliver’s “Heavy” Speaks to the Weight of Grief: The poet eloquently conveys the dizzying effect of loss -
Did Our Ancestors Leave Behind a Map of the Afterlife?: Archaeological discoveries suggest link between ancient monuments and burial sites
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Categories
Tag Archives: End-of-life care
The Uneasy Relationship between America’s Life Expectancy and Retirement Age
New data shows Americans are retiring later and dying sooner
There has been an unsettling trend happening in the United States. The retirement age has been steadily increasing, but the last two years have seen a dip in life expectancy for the average adult. This suggests that Baby Boomers and middle-age … Continue reading
Death with Dignity: Lack of Access Biggest Issue
Refusal to participate leaves patients without access to end-of-life options
Twenty years ago, the state of Oregon implemented the nation’s first Death with Dignity Act. This state legislation provided a physician-prescribed, end of life option for terminally ill individuals. In the 20 years following, five other states and the District of … Continue reading
“It’s OK to Die” by Monica Williams-Murphy and Kristian Murphy
Making difficult decisions about end of life care
“It’s OK to Die” was written by Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy, an emergency room physician, and her husband, Kristian Murphy. Dr. Williams-Murphy writes about how difficult it is to treat critically ill people who do not have advance directives. If the … Continue reading
The Messenger: Doctors and End-of-Life Conversations
How can healthcare professionals learn to better communicate about end-of-life issues with terminal patients?
How do you tell someone that they’re dying? Telling someone they have a terminal illness is a regular part of the job for some doctors. Yet, the folks behind the Alive Institute initiative believe that many healthcare professionals aren’t adequately … Continue reading
Polypharmacy During Final Months of Life Can Be Futile
Many older people are prescribed ten-plus medications during their last months of life
A new study published in The American Journal of Medicine finds that older adults often receive numerous medications of questionable benefit in their final months of life. Previous estimates have shown that between 25 and 40 percent of people aged … Continue reading
Cancer Patients Might Be More Optimistic About Prognosis Than Their Doctors
A small study finds conflicting opinions between doctors and their patients
According to a recent study, the majority of cancer patients believe they will live longer than their estimated prognosis. Researchers found that many patients remain optimistic about their survival chances even after their doctors give them a poor prognosis. Professors at … Continue reading
