NPHI’s Senior Advisor, Andrew MacPherson recently moderated a thought-provoking HLTH panel on “The Uncomfortable Truth about Death,” featuring insightful discussions with Alicia Stokes, Shara Cohen, Jessica McGlory, and David Grams.
Topics included destigmatizing end-of-life care, enhancing access to in-home resources, addressing caregiver loneliness, and creating a fulfilling end-of-life journey.
Description of the 2023 HLTH Panel:
No one likes to talk about death. But it’s the greatest healthcare challenge all of us will ultimately face. So now that we’ve gotten that uncomfortable truth out of the way, let’s dive into how we can improve this shared patient experience. Ideally, the hospice landscape would provide patients with compassionate, enhanced, and supportive care during a time when they are least able to advocate for themselves. In reality, access issues, limited palliative care options, and inadequate support for caregivers prevail. What can we change? Should we focus on concise advanced directives or establish measurable metrics for end-of-life care? Improved access and accessibility to in-home resources, tackling caregiver loneliness, and creating the most fulfilling version of the end-of-life journey are goals worth striving for.