The Unspoken Diagnosis — Old Age
Should doctors discuss probable life expectancy with patients who don’t have a terminal illness? Authors of a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine say “YES!” These researchers favor broaching the subject with anyone who has a life expectancy of less than 10 years or has reached age 85. In this NY Times blog, the reader comments are as interesting as the article. Read article >
Plain Speaking at the End of Life
In a recent NYTimes.com blog, Dr. Stephen Workman of Halifax, Nova Scotia takes exception to the language many physicians use when speaking with patients near end of life. He called language the most important tool health professionals have to improve the care of terminally ill patients.
Click here for the Q&A between Dr. Workman
and Paula Span >
New Goldstein Family Hospice of Cincinnati and Fernside Grief Center
On November 20, 2011 Hospice of Cincinnati and Fernside, a center for grieving children, celebrated the opening of the first and only grief center in the Tri-State area. The grief center is located on the Hospice of Cincinnati campus in Blue Ash at Cooper Rd and Reed Hartman Highway. Thanks to a meaningful gift from Eddie and Arlene Goldstein, the grief center has been permanently named The Goldstein Family Hospice of Cincinnati and Fernside Grief Center. The mission of the Grief Center is to promote healing for life after loss.
HOC “Wins” the Vote; Accepts Check from The Kenwood
Hospice of Cincinnati leaders Sandra Lobert, Janet Montgomery, and Lauren Scharf had the opportunity to attend the opening of The Kenwood, by Senior Star, a 288-unit premier senior living community on Kenwood Road. The three-story residential building provides the full continuum of care from independent living to skilled nursing facilities.
Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can’t save your life?
Modern medicine is good at staving off death with aggressive interventions — and bad at knowing when to focus, instead, on improving the days that terminal patients have left.
The New Yorker, 8/2/2010. Click here to read the entire article.
Watch our therapy dog Sparky on WLWT News
On February 9th, 2011, Sparky, one of our therapy dogs, was featured on WLWT News. Watch as Sparky brings his extraordinary sense of love, peace, and acceptance to patients and families of Hospice of Cincinnati. Sparky will go anywhere. He visits the elderly, sick children, and even goes to schools to help kids feel more comfortable reading. He works anytime of day, sometimes several times a week, and even makes house calls!
WLWT News, 2/9/2011. Click here to watch the entire segment.
End-Of-Life Care at Home Can Improve Quality of Life for Patients and Families
Oncologist Recommends Discussing Treatment Options
63-year-old Lois Riley and oncologist Alexi Wright talk about the decision to undergo less intensive chemo in order to spend quality time with family. ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, 12/27/2010.
Click here to watch the entire segment.
The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care
Many Americans spend their last days in an intensive care unit, subjected to uncomfortable machines or surgeries to prolong their lives at enormous cost. CBS News, 60 Minutes, 8/8/2010. Click here to watch the entire segment.
Hospice of Cincinnati Teen Volunteer Lends Comfort to the Dying
Kyle Nienaber, co-valedictorian at Beechwood High School, volunteers at Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash every other Sunday. He has been giving his time to help the dying since he was 13, and recently received the Terrific Teen Award. Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/27/2010. Click here to read the entire article.
Families With a Missing Piece: A New Look at How a Parent's Early Death Can Reverberate Decades Later
"Would you give up a year of your life to have one more day with your late parent?" 1 in 9 Americans lost a parent before they were 20 years old, and for many of them, this sort of question has been in their heads ever since. Wall Street Journal, 6/2/2010. Click here to read the entire article.
60 Minutes TV Segment on End of Life Care
60 Minutes ran a special segment called "The Cost of Dying". It includes a very well prepared,
in-depth 4 page article and 3 videos about end of life care and the value of hospice services.
CBS News, 60 Minutes, 11/22/2009. Click here to see the entire segment.
Preparing for the Final Hours
Should you have a living will specifying the kind of care you'd want at the end of life if you couldn't speak for yourself? Wall Street Journal, 8/18/2009. Click here to read the entire article.
At the End, Offering Not a Cure but Comfort
As an aging population wrangles with how to gracefully face the certainty of death, the moral and economic questions presented by palliative care are unavoidable. The New York Times, 8/19/2009. Click here to read the entire article.