Hospice Management Advisor Archives – October 1, 2011
October 1, 2011
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Language and cultural differences affect pain assessments
Bilingual staff, cultural diversity education, and community presentations designed for specific populations are efforts that hospices throughout the country have implemented to increase access and improve care to hospice patients of all backgrounds. -
How to assess your own beliefs about pain
Understanding your own cultural beliefs and biases about pain is an important first step in accurately assessing a hospice patient's pain levels, says Mary Curry Narayan, MSN, RN, HHCNS-BC, a clinical education and transcultural nurse specialist and owner, Narayan Associates in Vienna, VA and author of "Culture's Effects on Pain Assessment and Management." -
Tailor pain tools to patient
Language and cultural beliefs can affect the accuracy of pain assessment tools regularly used by hospice staff members, says Hank Willner, MD, medical consultant for Hospice Foundation of America and hospice medical director and palliative care consultant for Capital Caring in Falls Church, VA. Interpretation of visual and numeric scales may differ according to culture, he explains. -
Awards to honor palliative, EOL care
The Circle of Life Award celebrates programs across the nation that has made great strides in palliative and end-of-life care. This is the 12th year for the Circle of Life Award. -
In-home visits reduce utilization for elderly
A program that sends geriatricians and nurse practitioners into the homes of high-risk, frail elderly patients has resulted in a 195% return on investment (ROI) for Fallon Community Health Plan in Worcester, MA. -
Palliative care hardwired into hospital system
Palliative care isn't just for hospice patients it is also used to manage the symptoms of those with chronic or advanced illnesses. -
Palliative care model meets goals of health care reform
All of the accountable care principles that are integrated into the Affordable Care Act (ACA) require a clinical approach to the sickest, most complex, and costliest patients, says Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, because they all begin to move the system away from the fee-for-service model. -
Data collection comes to palliative care
Palliative care was only recognized as a specialty 5 years ago by the American College of Graduate Medical Education. Because of its newness, those working in the specialty are still learning how to effectively collect data and make use of the information once they have collected it. -
ICDs result in adverse events at end of life
Although implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) improve survival in patients at risk for recurrent, sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation, the device can add to a patient's discomfort at the end of life. -
Accurate life expectancy prediction possible
A new scoring system that can more accurately predict the life expectancy of a patient with advanced cancer in terms of "days," "weeks," and "months" is described in an article published in BMJ.