Chronic pain is emerging as a major health concern. It has negative impacts on patients, their families, and society as a whole. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that chronic pain leads to $560 billion each year in direct medical costs, lost productivity, and disability programs.
In addition, a growing number of deaths are caused by pain medicine overdose.
If you are elderly and living alone, or a time-consumed caregiver for someone with a serious illness, you may find yourself removed from day-to-day interactions with others, leaving you feeling especially secluded and lonely.
“People who are chronically lacking in social contacts are more likely to experience elevated levels of stress”, according to an article in the New York Times.
Many of us know someone who provides care for a family member of friend who is sill, injured, disabled, or otherwise in need of assistance.
Caregivers often need extra help from others, even if they may not ask for it.
More and more Americans turn to hospice care when facing a life-limiting illness, and of these patients, a growing majority have an illness other than cancer.
This is according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), which recently published a report providing an overview of hospice care
Do you have a “bucket list”? If so, did you know that it might be helpful to share it with your doctor?
Many people have a bucket list, which is simply a list of things they want to do before they die. Named after the phrase, “Kick the bucket”, bucket lists have become increasingly popular in the United States.
The number of Americans using hospice care continues to grow every year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), which recently published a report providing an updated overview of hospice care in the U.S.
Recognizing that it’s often hard to know what to say or do to help someone who is grieving the death of a loved one, Reader’s Digest published a list of “9 true stories that will show you what people going through a loss really need.”
One of the benefits of hospice care is that it not only provides comprehensive care for the patient, but also supports the caregiver. To help people caring for a loved one, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has expanded its website to include practical information for caregivers.
Ever since hospice care became available in the USA in the 1970s, doctors, nurses, and other medical experts have collected data to help shed light on the many way hospice care can help patients who are facing a life-limiting illness.
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association are following anew policy, which stresses the important of palliative and hospice care for patients with advanced heart disease and those who have a stroke. The associations recommend an early start to palliative care and referral to hospice when patients can benefit from end-of-life care.
