Advances in medical science in the past century have been remarkable. We have learned to control many disease processes that in the past seemed insurmountable. It has made us strive for invincibility as we seek to eliminate the scourges that plague humankind. In the process, we have lost the ability to cope with our inevitable mortality. Our culture encourages us to "look younger", have "sex for life", and "never give up". This has created a disconnect in our care for the dying, as we avoid talking about death, "never give up hope", and focus instead on medical treatment "possibilities". Death has come to be viewed as a failure of our medical system, our patients, their caregivers, or all three.

Patients who seek our services, even in the emergency room, aren't necessarily seeking "everything possible" to keep them alive. Often they are seeking everything possible to make them, and their family members, comfortable, in a system that too often reduces patients to heartbeats to be maintained, and lungs to keep inflated. Sharp HospiceCare and the Transitions Program strive to refocus our culture on patient care, not medical treatments. Patients want providers to focus on them as human beings, integral parts of their families and communities, with goals beyond mere "survival to discharge from the ICU".

Multiple studies have shown that comfort care at the end of life actually prolongs the lives of patients, as well as their caregivers, while making more efficient use of medical resources. The Sharp Transitions Program is a new concept in care for chronically ill patients near the end of life, so they can enjoy time spent at home rather than the hospital, and be guided in advance healthcare planning and family preparations.

Please join us at

Grand Rounds on Friday, May 14

to hear more about the services available to your patients through the

Sharp HospiceCare Transitions Program.

Are you interested in seeing a recently published issue of the E-Bulletin?