Palliative care education
Horizon Hospice Medical Directors Dr. Michael Preodor and Dr. Michael Marshke created semi-annual newsletters that highlighted a range of hospice and palliative care topics and circulated them to medical professionals. In the 1998 edition, Dr. Preodor discusses the term “Quality of Life” and how it is applied when caring for patients. A term that has been in use in American medicine since the mid 20th century, “quality of life” refers to the many factors that contribute to a patient’s well-being. Patients, family, and caregivers carefully consider things like pain, mental health, comfort, companionship, activity, and more when considering steps for treatment or pain management. Hospice and palliative care acknowledges that no one can live forever, so there comes a point when patients, families, and doctors must work together and carefully consider these factors to make medical decisions.
This section includes a sample of the newsletters as well as other publications focused on educating families and the medical community.