Communication & Practice: Re-Imagining the End-Of-Life Experience

by Stacey TinianovTransformative change takes time and effort yet these epic journeys always begin with single steps. With bite-sized change in mind, how might we encourage little shifts in the way we communicate and practice to catalyze big change in re-imagining the end-of-life experience? Redesigning Communication If we would like to re-imagine the end-of-life experience, might we begin to reconsider our terminology as it relates to death? “She lost her battle with cancer.” Winners and loser conversations may be better suited for discussions around play-off games. When someone dies from their illness, claiming the disease as a victor does everyone involved a disservice. Might we reconsider these words? “Do Not Resuscitate” A DNR is a vital piece of information for patients being treated in a healthcare setting. And while the point is obvious, a verbiage change might be in order. As part of the 5/23 #Hcldr tweetchat, Dennis Kenez tweeted a simple idea: Instead of a DNR, might we consider an AND (Allow Natural Death).T4 AND = Allow Natural Death instead of DNR Do Not Resucitate might help many understand #hcldr— Dennis Kenez (@denniskenez) May 25, 2016 When I read the tweet, I thought, “What a brilliant idea!” And when I explored the idea, I realized that this particular suggestion is not a new idea but has perhaps just been caught of the vortex of “Change is Hard.” On December 1, 2014, Dr. Brett Belchetz covered the topic of moving to an Allow Natural ...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: communicaiton death openIDEO patient tinianov Source Type: blogs