Literature Review

Guidelines for supporting the dying and their families Psychiatric Times; by Ken Druck, PhD; 9/19/24 There are few subjects that most of us, including those who work in mental health, avoid more than death and dying. Meeting the needs of the dying and their families requires a deep and clear understanding of competent and compassionate care for health care professionals and caregivers. Since the death of my 21-year-old daughter several decades ago, I have had the honor and privilege of helping countless individuals, families, and communities that have suffered losses. I have also been given the opportunity to teach and train mental health professionals and developed several programs and guidelines for supporting the dying and their families. My top 7 guidelines to share with patients and their families are as follows:

The catalyst for a 25% drop in sepsis mortality at Jefferson Health Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Erica Carbajal; 9/19/24 In the healthcare quality space, clinicians must track a plethora of metrics and measures, creating an environment where it can be easy to lose focus of ongoing priorities. To help center focus and ensure alignment of clinical priorities, Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health developed a quality and safety management system called OnPoint, which is now in place across all of its 17 hospitals. ... The platform is central to strides Jefferson Health has made in managing sepsis in recent years, ... Since 2021, the system has achieved a 25% reduction in average annual sepsis mortality, which is estimated to have saved the lives of nearly 700 patients and $30 million in costs.

Death is no enemy Psychiatric Times; by Sidney Zisook, MD; 9/17/24... As mental health clinicians, we often confine our conversations about death and dying to recognizing suicide risk and preventing suicide. And for good reason. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, ... Far less attention is paid by mental health clinicians to other aspects of death and dying. But we are human, first and foremost, and coping with a host of issues related to the end of life is inextricably bound to both our professional and personal lives. Like it or not, death is part of life. We, as mental health clinicians, are not always as prepared as we would like to be to help ourselves, our loved ones, our patients, and their loved ones deal with loss, dying, death, and bereavement. For many physicians, 1 or 2 hours in medical school and perhaps another few hours during residency are all the training we receive in these complex and challenging clinical issues. ...  Chochinov provides a clinician’s guide for “being with” dying patients. He offers ways of providing intensive caring to enhance empathy, respect, connectivity, and hope, and to make the experience of a dying patient more tolerable than it otherwise might be. ... I have utilized his Patient Dignity Question, which asks, “What do I need to know about you as a person to take the best care of you possible?” on several occasions with gratifying results for both the patient and me.

Family members' health can suffer when relative has cancer: Study Becker's Hospital Review; by Elizabeth Gregerson; 9/13/24 Individuals are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and psychological illness after a family member is diagnosed with cancer, according to a study published Sept. 9 in Cancer. Researchers from institutions across the U.S. analyzed data of patients diagnosed with genitourinary cancer between 1990 and 2015 who had first-degree relatives or spouses, from the Utah Population Database. The cohort of 49,284 patients and 77,938 relatives was matched with a similar control group and followed up within one-, three- and five-year periods. Among patients with genitourinary cancer, their family members had a "10% increased risk of developing a psychological illness and a 28% increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease" one year after diagnosis, according to the study. "This study provides population-level evidence to support the hypothesis that cancer diagnoses will lead to adverse health outcomes for family members of patients with cancer," the study authors wrote.

The 9 college majors that lead to the most fulfilling careers ... NBC 7 San Diego, CA; by Kamaron McNair; 9/14/24 If you want your degree to help you land a fulfilling job, consider studying music therapy. The medical and therapeutic fields are among the college majors helping graduates get jobs that make the world a better place, according to graduates surveyed in a recent Payscale report.24/7 San Diego news stream: Watch NBC 7 free wherever you are Alumni with bachelor's degrees in music therapy are most likely to do this kind of fulfilling work, with 95% of degree-holders saying their work makes the world a better place, Payscale finds. Music therapy programs cover coursework in music, music therapy, science and psychology, according to the American Music Therapy Association. ... Music therapists may work in traditional settings, offering services to clients working through physical disabilities or mental health issues. People in hospice care, substance abuse programs and cancer treatment centers have also benefited from music therapist visits, according to the AMTA.Editor's note: Click here for facts and descriptions about "Music Therapy in Hospice Care," by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA). To recruit a certified music therapist for hospice (or other setting), visit AMTA's Job Hotline.  

Age-friendly care: What it is and how reporters should cover itAssociation of Health Care Journalists; by Liz Seegert; 9/13/24You may have heard of age-friendly care... Age-friendly care, an initiative of The Institute for Health Care Improvement and The John A. Hartford Foundation, is modeled on the evidence-based 4Ms framework:

Indiana music therapy specialists talk about the practice BallStateDailyNews.com; by Hannah Amos; originally posted 9/3/24, distributed 9/12/24 The strum of a guitar, the hum of a voice and the steady beat of a drum makes more than just music. It provides a way for people to work through their emotions.  Kirby Gilliam, owner and founder of Plainsong Music Services in Anderson, Indiana, said she noticed music creates a safe space.  ... [She] uses different techniques: expressive, receptive, recreated and the ISO principle. Expressive music therapy is when the patient makes music. The receptive technique is when the therapist makes music and the patient listens. Recreated is when patients sing songs made by other artists. Finally, the ISO principle is when the music matches the patient’s mood, and through music, they shift the mood in a positive direction, Gilliam said.  “Music therapy is an evidence-based field, based and rooted in science and research,” Gilliam said. “If it didn't have the evidence base, it would be more like hippie-dippy and anecdotal … The why is [that] music opens up your entire brain — all of the pathways.” ... Another worker at Plainsong is Hospice Coordinator Kinsey Lavy, who primarily works with geriatrics and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Editor's note: For a book specific to music therapy and music for hospice and grief care, with practical uses by mental health practitioners, I invite you to examine my book, Music of the Soul - Composing Life Out of Loss, published in Routledge's Series in Death, Dying and Bereavement, edited by Robert A. Neimeyer.

[Opinion] Public health’s spirituality disconnect Harvard Public Health; by Katelyn N.G. Long, David H. Rosmarin, and Howard K. Koh; 9/10/24The separation of church and state has long represented a hallowed legal principle. As a result, perhaps, the field of public health has often divorced itself from spirituality—to the detriment not only of the diverse populations we serve but also of ourselves. ... Our team from the Harvard Initiative on Health, Spirituality and Religion studies ways to bridge the public health disconnect between body and soul. As part of our commitment to research and practice, we worked in 2022 alongside several dozen colleagues nationwide to analyze the most rigorous studies published on the topic this century and to make recommendations for the future. ...

A dying wish: Longtime hospice volunteer has a challenge for GV Green Valley News, Green Valley, AZ; by Dan Shearer; 9/10/24 ... The woman who walked alongside dying patients as a hospice volunteer for more than 20 years is now herself in hospice. She smiles but says the glistening in her eyes are sad tears. But cancer hasn't taken her joy, and she’s emotionally strong enough to meet with a reporter in her final weeks to make a request of Green Valley: Please consider taking up just the kind of work she’s been doing for two decades. It’s tough, but it comes with lessons and blessings that last a lifetime. ...

Mental health jobs to grow 3X more than the rate of all US jobs Becker's Hospital Review; by Erica Carbajal; 9/9/24 By 2033, employment growth in mental health professions is expected to triple that of average job growth in the U.S., according to a CNN analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the median projected employment growth for all occupations across the next decade is 4%, the rate for mental health-related jobs is 12%. This includes psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, psychiatric aids and social workers, according to CNN's report published Sept. 7. Editor's note: Too often, mental health health jobs in hospice and palliative care are relegated to low status on priorities for staffing, instead of the regulatory high priority for "whole-person" care defined throughout the CMS Hospice Conditions of Participation. As significant changes continue to unfold for hospice and palliative services, we will continue to report trends and shifts that emerge in the healthcare landscape for mental health jobs.  

When rounding sparked improvements, per 4 chief nursing officers Becker's Hospital Review; by Erica Carbajal; 9/5/24 Rounding the floor with front-line nurses and staff is more than just a management practice for leaders to show face — it is a vital tool for connecting with employees and driving meaningful change. In conversations with hospital leaders, they often echo the sentiment of how routinely spending time with front-line staff uncovers opportunities to address pain points in their daily workflow. With nurses often pointing to lack of resources and support as drivers of job dissatisfaction and burnout, rounding represents a key strategy to positively affect staff engagement and retention, and thus, patient care. Becker's recently asked four chief nursing officers to share a recent example of a time when rounding sparked a process change or improvement at their hospital. Here are their responses: ... Editor's note: "Rounding" best practices and outcomes apply to hospice and palliative care multidisciplinary teams. 

Hugo man dies in house fire  [hospice patient] KXII 12 TV, Hugo, OK; by KXII Staff; 9/5/24 A fire at a home in Hugo claims the life of a former Choctaw County assistant district attorney. Officials said the fire happened Sunday afternoon. The Choctaw County Emergency Manager told News 12 that John Bounds, who was in hospice care, was unable to escape. All others in the house got out safely.Editor's note: What emergency discussions do your interdisciplinary team members have with home hospice patients and their caregivers? Regular fire safety training (and other forms of patient care safety, workplace safety, etc.) are required by OSHA and accreditation organizations. 

American Heart Association affirms importance of palliative care in treating cardiac conditions Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/4/24 Multidisciplinary palliative care offers clear benefits to patients with cardiovascular disease, particularly when it comes to medication management and goals-of-care conversations. Palliative care with effective medication management, shared decision making and symptom management can help improve quality of life for heart disease patients, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) — “Palliative Pharmacotherapy for Cardiovascular Disease.” The statement offers guidance for health care providers to integrate palliative methods as part of holistic medication management at all stages of a patient’s illness, the AHA indicated. This underscores the importance of collaboration between palliative care professionals and other clinical specialties, according to Dr. Andrew Esch, director of palliative care program development at the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC).