Tag Archives: Hospice

The Speak Up Program Urges People to Take an Active Role in Their Health Care

The palliative care education and awareness campaign gives people the information they need to take control during serious illness and end-of-life

Speaking of palliative care awareness this week, in October, The Joint Commission launched an educational campaign called “Speak Up: What you need to know about your serious illness and palliative care.” The campaign helps educate the public on how and … Continue reading

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How Can We Raise Awareness About Palliative Care? An Interview with Helen McNeal

The CSU Institute for Palliative Care educates professionals and the public on the realities of palliative care in our health care system

Helen McNeal is Executive Director of the California State University Institute for Palliative Care, the first statewide educational and workforce development initiative dedicated specifically to palliative care. The Institute at the flagship campus, CSU-San Marcos, will offer palliative care training for … Continue reading

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”Last Acts of Kindness,” by Judith Redwing Keyssar

Stories from the bedsides of the dying and what they can teach us

A few months ago, I interviewed Redwing Keyssar for the SevenPonds blog to get her perspectives on death, dying, and palliative care. Her book, Last Acts of Kindness, outlines Redwing’s unique philosophies and also provides a vital tool for health … Continue reading

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What Is Palliative Care? An Interview with Dawn Gross

Why palliative care physicians are fairy godmothers, not "Grim Reapers"

Dawn Gross, MD, PhD, is a hospice physician at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Her background is in hematology and immunology, and she now works for the hospital’s Palliative Care Service, specializing in treating patients facing life-altering illnesses and … Continue reading

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Franny’s Last Ride by Mike DeStefano

The comedian and storyteller shares his struggle to support his wife at the end of life

Comedian Mike DeStefano died of a heart attack March 6, 2011. In 2007, he appeared with The Moth storytelling organization to tell the story of his wife, Fran, who was dying in hospice after a drug addiction and affliction with … Continue reading

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Beasts of the Southern Wild by Beinh Zeitlin

An imaginative, engaging film about the death of a way of life

In the opening sequence of Beinh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, a wildly imaginative independent film set on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, a herd of Ozarks, towering beasts that roamed the earth in the days before the Ice Age, … Continue reading

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