Summer 2021
Featured
Feature
Moral Distress, Palliative Care, and the Road to Resilience
Larry Beresford The COVID-19 pandemic has sorely challenged healthcare professionals, particularly in areas where case numbers surged and challenged capacity. For some, the sheer caseload of severely ill patients, having to witness so many deaths, and their own personal risk...
In this Issue
A Message from the President
The Academy’s Commitment to Diversity: What’s Next?
In this issue, I want to continue discussing AAHPM's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)—a concept fundamental to our field and to the care of patients with serious illness and their families. Recent events of racial unrest in our...
Annual Assembly
An Annual Assembly Experience Like No Other
The COVID-19 pandemic created new opportunities, despite many challenges, for the 2021 Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care held February 17–19. This year, the meeting was offered in a completely virtual format tor the first time since AAHPM and...
Clinical Pearls
Treating Intractable Nausea and Vomiting
Kyle Neale, DO Nausea and vomiting are endemic among patients seen by palliative care specialists (PCSs).1 The etiology of nausea and vomiting typically is multifactorial, with components of gastric stasis, adverse medication effects, chemical and metabolic derangements, and neurologic and...
Art of Caring
Personal Reflection of a Palliative Care Physician
Pooja Baijal, MD Prior to rounding in the intensive care unit (ICU), I would pause outside the double doors for a couple of seconds, gathering all my strength for another challenging day. I knew this time that it was not...
Advocacy Update
Considering Policy Priorities for the Field Through a COVID-19 Lens
Jacqueline M. Kocinski, MPP As COVID-19 continues to impact all aspects of health care, both policymakers and advocates are necessarily viewing their work through the lens of the pandemic. The swift decision making that characterized the period immediately following the...
Pathways to Palliative Care
Medicines Are Tied to Hopes And Dreams: A Conversation with Kashelle Lockman
Cory Ingram, MD MS FAAHPM Have you ever considered the hopes and dreams that people place on our medicines? Certainly, in the area of disease-directed therapies like insulin for diabetes and chemotherapy for cancers, medicines are associated with wishes for...
Let's Think About It Again
Mask Use and Family-Centered Responses in the Time of COVID-19
Case Study Mrs. Jones is an 82-year-old woman with FAST stage 7c Alzheimer's disease. She recently has been enrolled in hospice after a fall led to a hip fracture. She is unable to care for herself and her Palliative Performance...
HMDCB Update
Continuing Learning and Certification Updates
The HMDCB Continuing Certification Program (CCP) application cycle is now open for certificants who initially passed the exam in 2015 or 2016. Please note, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the HMDCB Board is closely monitoring the situation and will...
PCQC Update
PCQC Is Open for Data Collection
The Palliative Care Quality Collaborative (PCQC) is excited to announce the launch of the PCQC Registry, the first unified national registry to measure quality in palliative care. In partnership with CAPC, NPCRC, and AAHPM, PCQC has combined the clinical data...
AAHPM News
Congratulations, Poster Award Winners
AAHPM congratulates the following members who received awards for their posters at the 2021 Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care. Case Quality Palliative Care: One Antidote for Ageism, (C477)Shannon Devlin, MD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT Clinical...
Quarterly Progress Report
AAHPM Points of Progress
More than 30 committees and task forces representing the efforts and expertise of hundreds of Academy members have made significant progress toward implementing AAHPM's goals. This progress report highlights accomplishments within each goal area of the Strategic Plan, with an...