In her 2018 Golden Globes speech, Oprah Winfrey said, “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” This is especially true when your health is at stake. Your medical team can’t give you all the help you need if they can’t see the full picture.
Embracing and loving one’s body, despite its imperfections or changing conditions, is the idea behind body positivity. Once a fringe social movement that began in the 1960s as a way to challenge societal norms around body types, this concept has now become so mainstream that it’s the inspiration behind countless television commercials, ad campaigns, and social media hashtags.
While the debate over healthcare reform echoes throughout the country, the hospice and palliative care industry is moving towards the next decade with a set of its own goals. “This is not about healthcare reform,” says Dr. Timothy Ihrig, Chief Medical Officer for Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care. “The electric light was not created with the improvement of candles. Ergo, it’s not about healthcare needing to reform. We need to reform how we care.”
When Veterans are faced with a chronic or advancing illness, memories from years of combat may revisit them throughout their care. These thoughts can be linked to emotional, spiritual, or psychosocial traumas and can place additional strains on their quality of life and their loved ones.
Also known as renal failure, kidney failure is a sinister and debilitating disease that affects more than 661,000 Americans. Of these individuals, reports suggest that at least 468,000 of them require dialysis and about 193,000 are currently trying to cope and live with a functioning kidney transplant.
A woman in her sixties was suffering from severe degenerative bone disease and had undergone several surgeries on her back and shoulders. With no family living nearby to help, she felt anxiety, loneliness, and a sense of isolation. Wanting the best for his patient, this woman’s primary care physician asked Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care to help coordinate a treatment program to manage her pain and address her emotional issues.
