Category Archives: Ideas

Is the health system designed to crush the creativity and spirit of health professionals?

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Do you ever feel like health professional education and the health system are designed to take talented, intelligent, creative individuals and turn them into machines with no ability to innovate? Do you find yourself banging your head against a wall when even the smallest change for improvement requires hours of paperwork (that you probably submitted via fax), approval by numerous committees and months of waiting? Do you feel trapped in a health care silo? Do you feel ridiculous attending “multidisciplinary” meetings when the multiple disciplines are merely different specialties within your own profession?

If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes”, please keep reading. Continue reading →

Elsewhere in the Palliverse – Weekend Reads

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Hope everyone is enjoying the live tweet-feed from the 11th Asia Pacific Hospice Conference in Taipei, Taiwan #APHC2015. Just between you and me, I think James has gone slightly crazy as he morphs into a rapid-fire, live-tweeting demon from Taiwanese folklore. For a more measured account of the first few days of the conference, check out this article from ehospice.

Other interesting things to help you while away your weekend:

  • Weather forecasting and prognostication (Pallimed)
  • Global atlas of palliative care at the end of life (WHO / WHPCA)
  • Rita Charon on honouring the stories of illness (YouTube)
  • Anything but the D word in this famous sketch from Monty Python (YouTube)
  • The latest issue of the ANZSPM Newsletter

Happy May Day / International Workers’ Day!

Elsewhere in the Palliverse – Weekend Reads

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Botanic Gardens 3

(Jacaranda tree in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney)

A comprehensive review of Medicare was announced this week, which has the potential to significantly impact how healthcare is delivered in Australia. Opinions abound (a small sample here, here, here, and here) but details are scarce. This announcement is timely, with the release of Australian Medical Association’s annual report card on public hospital services last week (reactions here and here) and the upcoming launch of Choosing Wisely Australia on April 29th (more on this here, here and here).

Also this week, Queensland and Victoria joined New South Wales in conducting clinical trials on the use medicinal cannabis (other reports here, here and here). Information about the trial and law reform process can be found here, here and here. Palliative Care Australia has also provided a submission.

Other reads:

  • Physician suicide, burnout and self-care
  • How to answer the question: “Am I dying?”
  • Book of abstracts for the 14th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care

Finally, it’s ANZAC Day: Lest we forget.

Elsewhere in the Palliverse – Weekend Reads

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(Another beautiful day in Apollo Bay)

Conversations that Count Day took place across New Zealand this week (on April 16th). Read a selection of the various conversations and discussions generated around this event here, here, here, here, here and here.

At the same time, the US National Healthcare Decision Day promoted similar conversations across the pacific. An excellent collection of resources from Pallimed can be found here.

The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office released its report on the provision of palliative care services in the state this week. It’s findings and recommendations are both heartening and  worrying. Mainstream and palliative care media responses can be found here and here.

The Australian Medical Association also released its position statement on Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care Facilities earlier this week.

Many of us love a great TED talk. Haven’t heard of them? Or simply looking for a few more to feed your addiction? Check out this playlist on “New ways to think about death”.

A few reflective pieces to fill your head and heart this weekend:

And finally, here’s another plug for our new fellow survey.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Want to learn the FUNdamentals of Quality Improvement?

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https://twitter.com/QIFUNdamentals

When Sonia posted about the School for Health and Care Radicals (SHCR) back in January, I had no idea that signing up would unleash the radical within me (all for the investment of a few of hours per week).

I am hoping for a similarly mind-blowing, practice-changing experience with Improvement FUNdamentals, an NHS-led MOOC focussing on quality improvement in health and care.

I am sure that, as with the SHCR, we will form ANZ and palliative care sub-communities. You can read more about it and sign up here. It would be great to have some of the Palliverse community along for the ride.

New fellow survey

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(Image via wikipedia)

Are you a “new fellow”? Have you recently qualified (or about to qualify) as a palliative medicine specialist (FAChPM +/- FRACP)?

Transitioning from advanced training to consultant-hood can be a challenging time in one’s career. Help us understand how best to support you by completing this brief and anonymous survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NZ97VVL

Thank you!

What don’t we need to do in palliative care research?

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I’ve heard the question of what should we be doing in future research many times. But are there things we should not be doing in palliative care research? I’ve only heard this question asked once in a formal conference setting, and it elicited mostly stunned silence, followed by varying levels of opposition and attempts to reframe the question.

Why is this? Continue reading →

Palliverse researchers database update

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(Image: University of Michigan Library Card Catalog by dfulmer / CC BY)

The latest update of the Palliverse researchers database is here! Our numbers continue to grow and we will be talking about (and hopefully recruiting for) the database as a poster presentation at the upcoming Asia Pacific Hospice Conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Come and say hello in person if you will also be attending!

Once again, if you’ve have any stories associated with the database, we’d love to know! Email us at Palliverse@gmail.com

Happy Easter everyone!

ANZSPM Update 2015 – Registrations Now Open

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I thoroughly recommend this course by ANZSPM in Melbourne 18 -20 June. Aimed at medical practitioners and nurse practitioners, it offers “two full days of state of the art educational updates in areas relevant to practitioners who work in, or have an interest in, Palliative Medicine.”

This is the third medical and surgical update for palliative medicine peeps that has been offered.  I have attended in the past and found it really worthwhile.

There is an associated trainees day and supervisor’s workshop

anzspm.org.au/update2015

email anzspm@willorganise.com.au

Sonia

Elsewhere in the Palliverse – weekend reads

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weekendreads

I’d recommend the current issues of New Philospher (#7: Health) and Quarterly Essay (#57: Dear Life) for some palliative care-related reading. If you can’t make it to the book shop here are some online reads:

Truly beautiful words – Before I Go: A Stanford neurosurgeon’s parting wisdom about life and time. (The Washington Post)

EAPC has a new blog series from the patient and carer perspective! (Palliative Stories, EAPC Blog)

The Trouble With Advance Directives. (NY Times)

A doctor discovers an important question patients should be asked. (Washington Post)

When doing everything is way too much. (NY Times) Continue reading →