Palliative care executive, speaker, and innovator transforming serious illness care. Passionate about leadership, telehealth, and pain management. Advocate for better healthcare delivery and teamwork.
In palliative care, we have a front-row seat to love in action. We watch adult children pour themselves into caregiving for aging parents—managing appointments, medications, decisions, grief. But increasingly, those same caregivers are also raising children or supporting young adults at the very same time. They are “the sandwich
Every October, we do something bizarre. We cover our houses in skeletons, ghosts, and gravestones. We dress up as zombies. We tell creepy stories. We watch movies about death… for fun. And yet, bring up real death at the dinner table and suddenly everyone needs to “go check the laundry.
In Buddhism, there is a powerful teaching story often referred to as “the bird on your shoulder.” A monk asks his students, “If a bird sat on your shoulder and whispered, ‘Today could be the day you die,’ how would you live?” The question is not meant to frighten—but
We spend much of our lives preparing for beginnings — birth, school, jobs, marriages — yet most of us arrive at life’s end with little understanding of what the process of dying actually looks like. For families, it can feel like a storm without a map. For clinicians, especially those outside
In a world driven by data, deadlines, and diagnostics, humanism in medicine can sometimes feel like a quiet whisper in a crowded room. Yet, in hospice and palliative care, humanism is not just present—it’s the pulse. At its core, humanism in palliative care is the unwavering belief that
In cardiology, national guidelines already recommend that every patient receiving a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) also receive a palliative care consult. The rationale is both evidence-based and deeply humane: when a person is about to commit to a complex, life-prolonging technology, they deserve the dignity of informed, values-based decision-making.
In hospice and palliative care, our shared goal is to ease suffering, uphold dignity, and support patients and families through some of life’s most tender moments. Yet how we define comfort, dignity, and support is deeply shaped by culture, beliefs, and identity. Delivering high-quality, person-centered care means recognizing that
When we hear the word “hospice,” it’s often accompanied by fear, confusion, or the assumption that it’s only appropriate in the final days or hours of life. But the truth is, hospice is not about giving up—it’s about choosing comfort, dignity, and quality of life. And
Every year on April 16, we recognize National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD)—a day dedicated to inspiring, educating, and empowering people across the United States to think about and document their healthcare wishes. Whether you're 25 or 85, taking the time to plan ahead can make a world
In American culture, we are obsessed with the language of battle. We "fight" diseases. We "win" or "lose" our health struggles. And when a cure is no longer possible, we are told that pursuing hospice or palliative care is "giving up." This
Who Lives Longer on Hospice post 20:00/434.3281× Choosing Comfort: Ms. V’s Journey with Advanced Lung Cancer Ms. Victoria “V” Reynolds had built a life on determination. A self-made entrepreneur, mother of three, and proud grandmother of five, she had always tackled challenges head-on. When she was
By Dr. Carrie Hyde & Dr. Shayne Ladak Meet the Authors post 10:00/242.161× Death is one of life’s only certainties, yet it remains one of the most difficult topics to discuss. In modern healthcare, we often treat death as something to be fought at all costs,