Embracing end-of-life choices: A journey with Grandma
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 02, 2024
At the beginning of the year, my grandmother found herself in an acute-care hospital, addressing blood clots in her legs and lungs. Having just recovered from COVID-19 at the age of 100, uncertainty loomed...
It’s not morbid to talk about death … a lot
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 07, 2018
It’s not morbid to talk about death, even on the dance floor at your high school reunion.
More hospice providers not always better
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 08, 2018
Having more hospice providers working with a nursing home doesn’t necessarily reduce end-of-life hospitalizations.
LTC not always valuable at end of life to seniors with mental illness
By
Emily Mongan
Nov 17, 2017
Seniors with serious mental illness don’t often seek out skilled nursing care at the end of their lives, recently released survey results show.
What ‘do everything’ can mean
By
Angelo E. Volandes, M.D.
Feb 04, 2015
The day I met Mrs. Bartlett at my hospital, she was an 89-year-old long-stay nursing home resident with moderate-to-severe dementia who was being transferred to my hospitalist service for shortness of...
Should we all want to die at 75?
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 30, 2014
Nursing homes would be put out of business if scientists discover how to stop the aging process, McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor wrote in his blog yesterday. But the reverse is...
Addressing quality of death
By
Linda Elizaitis
May 05, 2014
What do you do when a resident crosses the threshold and your organization needs to address quality of death? We all know that there is a great emphasis, appropriately so, on a resident’s quality...
When it matters most
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 01, 2013
Pondering difficult end-of-life situations made me think, naturally, of Chevy Chase.
Pressure on senior care providers to improve efficiency may be misguided, say Medicare cost researchers
By
McKnight's Staff
May 30, 2013
Providers in areas with low average Medicare costs are not delivering care more efficiently than providers in high-cost areas, according to a new study. Prior studies said Medicare spending could be reduced...
Expanding support for families
By
Marian Hamilton
Jan 15, 2013
After my husband’s death in 2004, I thought how wonderful it would have been if there were a refuge in a hospital where caregivers could go to “escape” and recharge themselves — an...