Michelle Benton’s Post

#Navigating the care of terminally ill patients, especially when friends, well-wishers, and family members, including doctors, are involved, presents significant challenges for the palliative care team. Often, these individuals advocate for #aggressive #medical #interventions based on fluctuating parameters like blood pressure, glucose levels, protein, and electrolytes etc., despite the patient's need for comfort at the end of life. In #hospice settings, we encounter these scenarios daily, where the focus shifts from providing comfort to pursuing aggressive medical treatments due to the influence of friends and family, particularly those with medical backgrounds. This shift can create a barrier to aligning everyone with the patient's autonomy and comfort. One major obstacle is the perpetuation of #myths surrounding medications like morphine and other comforting treatments. Despite their efficacy in alleviating pain and discomfort, misconceptions about their use persist, often fueled by well-meaning but misinformed individuals. To address these challenges, the palliative care team must invest time in building trust and facilitating open #communication with the patient and their family. Education plays a crucial role in dispelling myths and #misconceptions about the end-of-life care and medications. Providing clear explanations about the goals of palliative care and the benefits of #prioritizing #comfort can help shift the focus away from aggressive medical interventions. Furthermore, involving a #multidisciplinary team comprising physicians, nurses, social workers, and counselors can provide comprehensive support to both the patient and their family. This team can offer emotional support, guidance, and practical assistance in navigating difficult decisions and managing conflicting perspectives. Encouraging #advance #care #planning discussions early in the disease trajectory empowers patients to express their wishes regarding end-of-life care, ensuring their autonomy is respected and honored. These conversations should involve all stakeholders, including family members and healthcare providers, to foster understanding and consensus regarding the patient's preferences. Ultimately, fostering a collaborative approach centered on the patient's comfort and autonomy is essential in #navigating complex end-of-life care situations in hospice settings, where the input of friends, family, and healthcare professionals can significantly influence #decision-making. Sparsh Hospice - Centre for Palliative Care

This is such an unfortunate situation in Tillsonburg and one that highlights the differences in how family doctors are recruited, supported, and onboarded into practices in Ontario. Tillsonburg is just outside my recruitment area so I felt helpless when the doctors planning to leave contacted me to ask for help finding replacements. They have also reached out to the neighbouring recruitment team in Woodstock. Family doctor recruitment is not managed provincially in Ontario. Each county/ town/ city has to create and fund this position themselves. In many cases the path to having a family doctor recruiter starts by a team of healthcare leaders advocating and pitching the municipality or health region for support. Tillsonburg is experiencing this drastic family doctor shortage without having a recruitment person in place to assist with finding and onboarding new doctors. When this is the case, it falls on volunteers within the medical community to manage the recruitment tasks. Having discussed this with the people in that volunteer role in London before our recruitment program started, they stated not having a recruitment lead here was making it hard for doctors to practice in this area. Recruitment leads have to continually fundraise from their OHT, hospitals, business community/ Chamber of Commerce, municipality, community foundations, developers, business leaders, etc to keep their programs going. They raise funds for their programs which includes their pay, travel, and materials and most also need funds for incentive money for newly-signed family doctors who are choosing to start practices where they can get financial relief from their student debt and moving costs. As different communities have different abilities to provide these funds, there is a disparity between areas with a recruiter and incentive funds and without. Tillsonburg has neither. *The physician recruiters of Ontario have self-organized into a group called Ontario Physician Recruitment Alliance and under the leadership of Jill Croteau, have created a job board with family doctor postings from across the province. (This is new so not all the areas have their postings up yet). www.opra.ca -The GTA does not have family doctor recruiters and this task is typically handled by clinic owners.

I think this is a good article but does not fully address about the trend of doctors leaving family medicine in Ontario, there are reports indicating a significant number of family doctors in Toronto planning to close their practices in the next five years, with concerns that the shortage will worsen. Other articles suggest that the exodus of family doctors could intensify without urgent changes. These findings highlight the need for immediate action to support family physicians and ensure the sustainability of primary care in Ontario. Years are passing and the wheel keeps rolling the same way. We need to think outside the box and make an approachable pathway to see light and go out the cabinets. https://lnkd.in/dPCskvFs https://lnkd.in/dDMh8jME

A cogent and urgent plea for more compassion in healthcare https://lnkd.in/ezypvJSi

Compassion enables us to do hard things in a human way, to uphold the humanity of care that matters. As we wind down with our personal reflections to set our reinforced commitments for action in the new year, this share from Michael West of this BMJ piece helps that steer positively. There is nothing more than compassion that is needed in this world and NHS. https://lnkd.in/ezypvJSi

💜 Compassion in Healthcare The dedication and hard work of NHS staff form the backbone of our healthcare system, yet the importance of compassion in neonatal and maternity services cannot be overstated. Compassion—actively understanding, engaging with, and acting to alleviate the suffering of others—deserves to be at the heart of healthcare culture. This thought-provoking article explores: ✅ How families of children with rare conditions remember individual acts of compassion, even when systemic support was lacking. ✅ The profound difference compassion made in end-of-life care & personal healthcare experiences. ✅ Practical examples, such as education to think about redesigning patient care around compassion. The takeaway? Compassionate engagement, values, systems and culture must be a guiding principle in healthcare—for patients and staff alike. #CompassionInHealthcare #PatientCare #CompassionateAction #NeonatalPsychology

In her latest editorial, third-year medical student Nidhi Bhaskar '21 MD'26 addresses the urgent need for improved end-of-life care conversations. Bhaskar critically examines the existing gaps in how these sensitive discussions are managed within healthcare settings. Her piece highlights the challenges faced by patients and providers alike, emphasizing the importance of improving palliative care literacy and approaching end-of-life conversations with greater empathy and clarity. This editorial offers valuable insights into creating a more compassionate and patient-centered approach to end-of-life care. Read: #PalliativeCare

🌟At Tuesday Health, we're dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to the knowledge they need to navigate serious illness with confidence and compassion. Our latest blog, "Comprehensive Guide to Palliative Care and Supportive Care: Your Ultimate Resource," is designed to do just that. Palliative care is more than just managing symptoms—it's about enhancing the quality of life for patients and their families. Whether you're a healthcare provider, caregiver, or someone facing a serious illness, understanding the full scope of palliative care can make all the difference. Dive into our guide to learn how palliative care can provide comfort, support, and improved experiences for those who need it most. 🔗https://hubs.la/Q02L5QWN0 #PalliativeCare #SupportiveCare #HealthcareEducation #TuesdayHealth

I'm an obsessive podcast listener and can usually rattle off a handful of good ones for someone to listen to based on a variety of interests and topics. Last week I encountered one on palliative medicine titled "why doctors die differently than their patients." I was immediately intrigued, listened and went down several rabbit holes reading articles on the topic! What it ultimately comes down to is that medical professionals often set up either/or scenarios to treat an illness or disease. Due to the current healthcare structure they often don't take the time to do a deep dive with patients to talk about the downsides and ultimately EMPOWER patients to make the choice that is right for them based on their beliefs and most important goals. The two doctors on this podcast do an excellent job explaining how palliative matters and how valuable the doctors are who educate and advocate for their patients and their families. If you have time in the car or while doing laundry to listen, please do and share your thoughts! Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eWZNXg53 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eSqU7Qcq #doctors #doctor #podcasts #palliativecare #palliativemedicine #palliative

🚨Struggling with high patient volumes and long wait times in their ED, UMass Memorial Health turned to Cipher’s Self-Service Rounding (SSR). 🚑 Two healthcare leaders share their journey of leveraging SSR to gather real-time patient feedback and reduce the workload for staff. Read the blog to learn more about how SSR can make your emergency department more efficient, responsive and patient-centered. https://lnkd.in/gd2VB4Nw