KAHPC NEWS CENTER
November is Home Care and Hospice Month
November 12, 2008
Ashton Gazette
November is Home Care and Hospice Month in Illinois, a time to honor and thank home health nurses, aides, therapists, social workers and other home care staff who are always there for us whenever we or our loved ones need home care and hospice. These services are delivered to recovering, disabled, chronically or terminally ill persons in need of treatment and/or support and assistance with the essential activities of daily living.
Landscape Evolves for Assisted Suicide
November 11, 2008
New York Times
Washington joined Oregon last week as the second state where physicians are allowed to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill people who want to hasten their own deaths. But the question of whether doctors should help patients die is far more nuanced than it was 11 years ago, when the Oregon measure took effect..
State second in nation to allow lethal prescriptions
November 5, 2008
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Washington will become the nation's second state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal prescriptions to terminally ill patients after voters gave resounding support to a contentious end-of-life measure.
Hospice: help and comfort at life's end
November 5, 2008
Richmond Times Dispatch
This June, Marcia A. Tetterton learned first-hand the benefits of hospice when professionals and volunteers trained in end-of-life care helped her family through the death of her father, an Alzheimer's patient in Florida.
Hospice and Palliative Care Month Article
November 3, 2008
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle
AseraCare Hospice is celebrating National Hospice and Palliative Care month in November. “The impact hospice, its programs, its employees and its volunteers have made on the lives of their patients and families throughout the years is astounding,” said Pam Kanies,executive director of AseraCare Hospice of Clarksville.
Hospice doesn't mean a person stops living
November 2, 2008
News-Sun
SEBRING --This is a story of living life to the fullest, embracing new opportunities and simply having fun.
Get healthy: Hospice to offer holiday bereavement counseling
November 1, 2008
Huntington Herald Dispatch
ASHLAND -- A special grief counseling session will be hosted by the Community Hospice bereavement department in November.
Doctors Weigh-In On Washington's I-1000
October 13, 2008
OPB News
Next month, Washington voters will decide Initiative 1000. It would allow terminally ill patients to request a lethal dose of medication from their doctor.
Palliative care report adopted
October 13, 2008
The Press Association
Hospices will be guaranteed NHS funding if they offer a set of core services for terminally-ill patients, it has been announced.
They will have to be provided by specially-trained staff, led by a consultant, and improve the standard of out-of-hours services as part of a palliative care shake-up.
End-of-life discussions benefit patients and caregivers
October 11, 2008
Cancerfacts.com
BOSTON – Oct. 10, 2008 –Terminally ill patients who had end-of-life discussions with physicians did not experience more emotional distress, as some doctors fear. In fact, patients who had such discussions received less aggressive medical care in their final week of life and had a better quality of life near death, compared to patients who did not have these discussions, according to a study in this week's issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
Research: End-of-life discussions improve quality of life for families, patients
October 10, 2008
McKnight's Long Term Care News
Discussions about end-of-life issues between patients, doctors and families improve the quality of life for the terminally ill. They also have "cascading benefits" for both patients and their loved ones, according to new research.
Doctors divided on assisted suicide
September 22, 2008
Seattle Times
Initiative 1000, which would allow doctors to write lethal-dose prescriptions for terminally ill, competent adult Washington residents, appears to be about patients.
Medicare pay cut could cost hospice $2 billion
September 20, 2008
Kansas.com
The hospice industry is bracing for a dramatic pay cut that could cost providers more than $2 billion in losses.
Hospice gets certificate to expand services
September 13, 2008
Huntington Herald Dispatch
ASHLAND -- Community Hospice has received a state Certificate of Need to expand its services to Johnson and Martin counties in Kentucky.
COST: Palliative Care Savings Measured
September 11, 2008
New America Foundation
We've known that a palliative care team in the hospital can improve care for seriously ill adults, but there's been less consensus on whether it also saves money. A new study concludes it does—an average of $300 per patient per day.
End-of-Life Choices a Complicated Affair
Study shows family wishes, doctor preferences often enter into decisions
August 29, 2008
US NEWS
End-of-life and other critical medical decisions that arise when patients can't make their own choices are often complex affairs, new research shows.
Missing full benefit of hospice care
August 10, 2008
Don't let Washington cut hospice funds
There have been moves by by the Bush administration to cut the amount hospices are reimbursed for the care we provide for terminally ill patients and their families.
Governor signs Wolk bill to put patients in charge of end-of-life care decisions
August 10, 2008
California Chronicle
SACRAMENTO — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law on Monday legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) providing seriously ill patients with a life expectancy of a year or less with a new tool to communicate precise instructions for their end-of-life health care.
August 19, 2008
Boston Globe
ROBERT POZEN and Cathy Schoen addressed many reversible reasons for the high rate of hospital readmission in the United States ("How rehospitalizations are hurting Medicare," Op-ed, Aug. 14). For many patients, rehospitalization occurs because of advancing illness and lack of outpatient supportive services that best meet patients' needs.
Questions Patients Should Ask
August 19, 2008
New York Times
Patients armed with clear-cut facts are often able to make wiser choices about their care. Yet doctors are often reluctant to broach these matters.
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