Caring Community - Palliative Care and Hospice

Americans for Better Care of the Dying

Mon, 7 Nov 2005 16:02:26 -0800

Americans for Better Care of the Dying goals are to: build momentum for reform; explore new methods and systems for delivering care; and shape public policy through evidence-based understanding.

Every dying person needs to be able to count on excellent care. Americans for Better Care of the Dying (ABCD) aims to improve end-of-life care by learning which social and political changes will lead to enduring, efficient, and effective programs. ABCD works with the public, clinicians, policymakers, and other end-of-life organizations to make change happen.

ABCD President Joanne Lynn, MD is one of the foremost national leaders in this movement and the author of Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness; and Improving Care for the End of Life. Extensive excerpts from both of these books are accessible via the ABCD website

Californians' End-of-Life Care Differs by Race and Ethnicity

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:38:19 -0700

This important study and related reports released by the California Healthcare Foundation in March 16, 2007 reports that: In California, the most populous and diverse state in the country, significant racial and ethnic differences exist at the end of life. These reports â�� the first in a new series of CHCF-supported projects focusing on end-of-life issues - found significant variations in the expectations, experiences, and decisions of patients and their families in the months preceding death.

“As California’s diverse population grows older, ensuring quality care at the end of life for everyone takes on even greater significance,” Mark D. Smith, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of CHCF, said Thursday at the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Los Angeles. “By supporting research and projects to improve the quality of end-of-life care, CHCF sees an opportunity to help make California a national example of best medical practices and culturally appropriate care.”

Caring Connections - It's About How You LIVE

Sun, 8 Jul 2007 16:19:27 -0700

Caring Connections, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), is a national consumer engagement initiative to improve care at the end of life, supported by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Caring Connections
-Provides free resources, information and motivation for actively learning about end-of-life resources.
-Promotes awareness of and engagement in efforts to increase access to quality end-of-life care.
-Helps people connect with the resources they need, when they need them.
-Brings together community, state and national partners working to improve end-of-life care.

Center for Practical Bioethics Resource Links

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 08:14:19 -0800

The Center for Practical Bioethics offers a variety of publications, video and audiotapes designed to enhance ethics education and promote discussion of ethics issues. Links are provided for free material and for items to purchase via their online store.

Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC)

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:17:07 -0800

The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) is a national initiative supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with direction and technical assistance provided by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (NY). CAPC provides health care professionals with the tools and training necessary to start and sustain successful palliative care programs.

CAPC publishes The Case for Hospital-Based Palliative Care â�� Why leading hospitals are starting palliative care programs to provide high-quality, effective management of advanced illness. Other publications include The Guide to Building A Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program, a how-to handbook with step-by-step guidance.

Chancellor Place of Windsor

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 08:25:11 -0700

Chancellor Place of Windsor provides loving, quality care to its residents. Chancellor Place has staff caregivers available 24 hours a day, and a nurse 16 hours a day. They offer residents a unique combination of care, comfort and independence in a home setting. Chancellor Place gives residents, by far, the greatest value based on our standards of excellence and our commitment to delivering quality care. They are conveniently located within walking distance to grocery stores, medical facilities, restaurants, and shopping. There serene residential setting offers a neighborly feel and real sense of belonging to the community.

Compassion in Dying of Northern California

Wed, 29 Sep 2004 09:32:22 -0700

Compassion in Dying of Northern California (CIDNC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life. They provide free client services to the terminally ill and do legal advocacy through the courts and legislatures. They inform and educate the public through the media and other outreach programs.

Educating Physicians in End of Life Care

Sat, 11 Sep 2004 07:48:36 -0700

The EPEC training is easily accessible on line or to bring into the community as a credentialed workshop program. The EPEC mission is to educate all healthcare professionals on the essential clinical competencies in palliative care. The EOLCA co-sponsored an EPEC training for the Sonoma County region in 2001 and 2003 with more than 100 physicians and many other health care professionals taking the two day in-depth training. All EPEC materials including CD Rom, Trainors Manual and Plenary video tapes are available in the Journey Project Resource Center for review.

Ethics in Medicine - End of Life Issues

Tue, 1 Nov 2005 20:20:39 -0800

Ethics in Medicine University of Washington School of Medicine
"End-of-Life Issues" published by Tony Back, MD, Faculty, Department of Medicine VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Faculty Associate, Department of Medical History and Ethics

A comprehensive essay written for doctors with links to in depth information of other related topics.

Topics covered in this lead in essay include:
What is a good death? A medical perspective.
What goals should I have in mind when working towards a decent death for my patient:
How do you know when someone is dying?
What should I know about the hospice approach?

Final Crossing: Learning to Die in Order to Live

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:21:05 -0700

The Final Crossing: Learning to Die in Order to Live is a new book by Dr. Scott Eberle, Medical Director, Hospice of Petaluma. “This book is itself a rite of passage. Extraordinary insights shared by two remarkable people, one dying, the other the inner life and decisions of the physician and friend attending this fine fellow preparing to head into death. This is the best work of its sort I have come across. There are so many levels, so many books in this book that it might well become a teaching text in many classrooms.” Stephen Levine, author of Who Dies?, Healing into Life and Death, and A Year to Live

Get Palliative Care (Consumer Ed Site)

Mon, 8 Jan 2007 19:24:55 -0800

“Palliative care is about the caring catching up with the technology,” a family member writes. The purpose of palliative care is to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for patients facing any serious illness, as well as for their families. Get Palliative Care is the work of pioneers and leaders in the field. Get PC is specifically designed to help consumers learn about palliative care - what it is, how to get it, if it is right for you or your loved one. There you can access palliative care resources, learn about palliative care service providers, and read stories of people graced with such care.

Hold Your Breath - A Journey into Cross-Cultural Medicine

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:31:56 -0700

Hold Your Breath - A Journey into Cross-Cultural Medicine
Film Directed by Maren Grainger-Monsen, MD Check PBS for local broadcasting times in your region. Northern CA KQED and KRCB broadcasting in April, 2007. A lovely and moving meditation on the clash between religion, culture and modern medicine. Produced by Stanford Center for BioMedical Ethics, Program in Bioethics and Film

Dr. Monsen is the film maker who also produced: Vanishing Line about her journey with a hospice chaplain caring for the dying; and Grave Words a entertaining film about use of resusciation for training medical students and others.

Hospice By The Bay

Tue, 9 Jan 2007 20:51:54 -0800

Hospice By The Bay, formerly known as Hospice of Marin, is an independent, Medicare and Medi-Cal certified not-for-profit healthcare provider diligently attending to essential physical, spiritual and psychological needs of adults and children who are coping with various stages of progressive and incurable illness in Marin and Sonoma counties.

For nearly three decades, Hospice By The Bay’s goal has been to help terminally ill patients and their loved ones make the most of every remaining moment of life, and to provide education and advocacy for the communities we serve. To that end, we have established the Hospice of Marin Foundation to ensure the availability of hospice and palliative care programs and services for all those in need.

Hospice By The Bay - Valley of the Moon Team

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:14:30 -0800

The Valley of the Moon Team is a program of Hospice By The Bay serving Sonoma County since 1992. Services are similiar to those provided by Hospice By The Bay, formerly known as Hospice of Marin.

Hospice By the Bay: Valley of the Moon Team
735 Broadway
Sonoma, CA 95476 (Map)
Teléfono: (707) 935-7504
Fax: (707) 935-7590

Hospice of Petaluma

Fri, 11 May 2007 15:35:02 -0700

Rooted in community, Hospice of Petaluma has been providing quality, compassionate hospice care and grief services to individuals and families facing life-threatening illness or the death of a loved one since 1977. Hospice of Petaluma and our sister program, Memorial Hospice, are a service of the St. Joseph Health System, a Ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Patients and families receive interdisciplinary patient care with individualized attention to nursing, psychosocial, spiritual and practical needs that may arise at the end of life. Hospice services are provided by professional staff and specially trained caregiver and grief support volunteers. Volunteer trainings are held in the spring and fall with both daytime and evening classes.