Palliative care is the rare specialty of medicine that seeks to find peace between the body and the mind. Palliative medicine is also rapidly growing in the US. Since 2000, the percentage of U.S. hospitals, with 50 or more beds, with a palliative care program has more than tripled. As of 2019, more than 81% of those hospitals had a palliative care team.
Despite that growth, there is a lot of confusion as to what exactly palliative medicine is. If you or your loved one have a serious disease, then this show is for you. We hope to clarify what’s what when it comes to long-term disease management and end-of-life care.
Guests:
- Dr. Gregory Meyer, professor of practice, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University.
- Dr. Maisha Robinson, chair of the Department of Palliative Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
Diane Rehm talks MAID
Diane Rehm served as host of a long-running —- almost four decades! — NPR program. During that time, she interviewed presidents, celebrities, politicians from all parties and countless others.
Rehm also spoke publicly and firmly about her late husband John’s plight with Parkinson’s disease until he passed away after he stopped eating and drinking to end his suffering.
She has shone a spotlight on the issue of death with dignity by focusing on Medical Aid in Dying, or MAID. She believes people have the right to choose when their physical, mental, and emotional suffering should come to an end.
When Diane began working on the film "WHEN MY TIME COMES" in 2016, there were only three states in the country whose laws allowed for MAID. By the time she finished the film, that number had jumped to 10 states, plus the District of Columbia. Now 18 additional state legislatures are debating the passage of that same law, first passed in Oregon in 1997.
Guest: Diane Rehm, NPR host.
