End of Life Resources

End of Life Resources

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Welcome to the End-of-Life Resources page; a library of information meant to assist physicians, caregivers, and patients find the information they need to better carry out end-of-life care.  Can't find what you're looking for?  Check back in soon becuse we are adding resources daily to continue populating the end-of-life resource categories. 

You may use the categories below to browse topics and resources or use the "Search EOLR" function on the left sidebar. 

"Do not punctuate the end of your life with a senseless act of brutality!"
Words have power. Language has power. The words we use may comfort or shock, allay or provoke, sooth or batter. Words ...
Geripal Blog Post from November 18, 2009: "The Best Town to Die In"
Palliative Care rooted in the community--this was the topic of a recent Kaiser Health News story which can be found at this...
Geripal Blog: "Hospice Upheaval"
Thursday November 19, 2009:  It never occurred to me until today that enrolling my patients in hospice could cause them...
Geripal Blog: "How should costs fit into the conversation about end-of-life care?"
November 23, 2009:  Diane Meier just tweeted: "60 minutes misses the point- palliative care is about matching...
Geripal Blog: "Penalizing Hospitals for Readmissions: Unintended Consequences?"
Tuesday December 1, 2009:  Medicare recently started publicly reporting hospital readmission rates as a measure of...
Geripal Blog: "Thoughts on Preventative Medicine"
Tuesday December 1, 2009:  You can prevent Heart Attacks You can prevent Strokes You can prevent Colon Cancer You can...
Geripal Blog: Advance Care Planning: A Paradigm Shift
What is the purpose of Advance Care Planning? I have been taught to view the goal as helping patients define what they...
Geripal Blog: Atul Gawande New Yorker Article "Letting Go"
I want to draw people's attention to a fantastic new piece in the New Yorker by Atul Gawande titled, "Letting Go: What...
Geripal Blog: Dying in 14 Minutes of 60 Minutes
   November 22, 2009:  CBS did a segment entitled "The Cost Of Dying" on tonight's 60 Minutes....
Geripal Blog: Dying in India: Palliative Care Provides Hope
  Imagine you have a terminal illness and were given a prognosis of 3 months...or less. In a developed country like the...
Geripal Blog: Length of Stay in Nursing Homes at the End of Life
One out of every four of us will die while residing in a nursing home. For most of us, that stay in a nursing home will be...
Geripal Blog: Palliative or Terminal Sedation?
Palliative or terminal sedation There is much to say - both good and not-so - about last Sunday's (December 27) NY Times...
Geripal Blog: Q&A with Jeff Gordon - Author of "A Death Prolonged"
Many terminal patients linger through their final months with a miserable quality of life and too often with extreme levels...
Geripal Blog: Social Workers Are Awesome
Social Workers Are Awesome Posted: 15 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PDT In 1927, Francis Peabody remarked that "The secret of the...
Geripal Blog: The breadth of life-sustaining treatment
In a recent story in the New York Times, Katy Butler described her parents' experiences with illness, the health care...
GeriPal Blog: Advance directives say “I’m not dead yet”
“Enough. The living will has failed, and it is time to say so.” So said Angela Fagerlin and Carl Schneider in...
GeriPal Blog: Palliative Care: Transforming the Care of Serious Illness – A Book Review
On my way out of the hospital this evening I ran into a soon-to-be palliative care fellow. Our conversation quickly turned...
Geripal November 6, 2009 Blog Post: $50,000 for your favorite Palliative Care Leader in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington
Who can pass up the chance to give $50K to their favorite palliative care leader or organization if it turns out that it won...
Geripal: Nelson Mandela and Imagery of Aging
This is a November 12th blog from Geripal about a New York Times article written by Celia Dugger.  The article is about...
GeriPal: The Opposite of Love
The Opposite of Love Posted: 17 May 2010 The Emergency Department phoned my office right before lunch. I was on call for our...
GeriPal: What a nursing assistant will tell us...if we ask
Posted: 29 Jan 2010 01:34 PM PST A friend recently forwarded me an update to a story first reported in the Washington Post...