A new voice at the Coalition
This month the Coalition welcomed Dr. Carine Davila to our research team focused on serious illness care for at-risk populations.
Carine, a palliative care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), is a first generation American whose parents immigrated to the United States from Peru. “I was struck by the Coalition’s multi-pronged research strategy and the different ways they were trying to get an understanding of this problem,” she says. During the pandemic, she has been instrumental at MGH in creating a Spanish Palliative Care Initiative to meet the needs of the Latinx community. In addition, Carine is currently a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University, through which she is pursing a master’s degree in Public Health. We’re excited for all that Carine’s expertise and voice will add as the Coalition prepares for another round of consumer research
Thinking differently about Advance Care Planning
Earlier this month, our Executive Director Anna Gosline spoke at a webinar hosted by the National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine called “Thinking Differently About Advance Care Planning.” She presented findings from our 2019 messaging research focused on identifying language and concepts that universally resonated with the public when it comes to the value of engaging in conversations about what matters most when it comes to serious illness care decisions. She emphasized that the research suggests that many typical ways we promote advance care planning often ring hollow without recognition of other life circumstances, especially for people with lower incomes. The research further suggests that one opportunity to reach further upstream in clinical conversations is by normalizing the language, experience and expectation for shared decision making for all care – not just serious illness and end of life care.
This session was part of a two-part series on advance care planning featuring numerous researchers and thought leaders from across the country discussing everything from the complex definition of advance care planning, the relative weakness of evidence for the effectiveness of advance care planning in the published literature, to the challenges of studying advance care planning. You can watch the recordings of Part 1 and Part 2 on NASEM's website.
Continuing the dialogue about e-MOLST
We are grateful to everyone who participated in this month’s webinar “One Month In: Questions, Comments and Feedback on the e-MOLST Web Portal.”
During the webinar, attendees were shown step-by-step how to use the portal. Erik Fromme went over suggested questions and language health care providers can use in conversations with their patients. Panelists answered questions including where the form is stored, how to update forms, and the feasibility of using the portal for different care populations. The slides are available here.
The Coalition created the portal this fall in partnership with Ariadne Labs and Honoring Choices Massachusetts, and powered by Vynca, to support providers in engaging in advance care planning with patients in the virtual care world.
We are always looking for great stories and ideas from you -- email Anna and Stephanie.