News

Thanks to the generosity of Coalition member UMass Memorial Health, you're invited to attend a special medicine grand rounds featuring the documentary film, "Caregiver: A Love Story." This film portrays the joys and challenges of caring for a person with end-stage illness with home hospice, and will be followed by discussion with the filmmaker, Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH, a critical care physician and author.

Calling all nursing faculty to register for our Train-the-Trainer session about the ELNEC Core Curriculum on January 12 and 13, 2022. Learn how to effectively teach primary palliative nursing skills to manage individuals with serious illness using the ELNEC curriculum.

Today we published an expanded research report, with more detailed data on several of the findings presented at the Summit. A huge, enormous thank you to the sponsors, collaborators and community partners who were integral to this project. We are grateful for your time, faith and support.

Join faculty from the Coalition's Nursing Schools Taskforce for a conversation about serious illness care in nursing education. We did a curriculum survey and are developing follow-up plans and collaborations. Learn more and share your ideas about how we can ensure all nurses gradate with serious illness care and communication skills.

Recent research from the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care found that collaborative communication between clinicians and patients is key to improving health equity among seriously and terminally ill populations.

Of nearly 2,500 people surveyed nationwide during the course of last year, 87% indicated that it was important for their physicians to know their priorities. The research was part of a multi-phase project designed to drive improvements in communication and care for people and families facing serious illnesses.

On October 14, 2021, we virtually came together reflect on the findings from our latest nationwide research. We also heard updates from our Public Policy Working Group, Medical Schools' Collaborative, and Nursing Schools Taskforce. Through presentations, discussions and breakouts, we explored what it means to shift to an equity-first approach in all our work to improve communication and care for people and families facing serious illness.

Survey finds what patients want most is to be listened to and included in their health care. But barriers within the health care system often prevent this, especially for those with serious illnesses and from marginalized communities.

A summit on serious illness care this week will explore new data on racial inequities in health care experience and communication, bringing together more than 200 people from across the Commonwealth to explore ways to improve care.

“We know there are persistent, well-documented disparities in health outcomes, and that has only become clearer over the past year amid COVID-19 and the national reckoning with systemic racism,” said Anna Gosline, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care.

The virtual red carpet's rolled out -- we can't wait for all of you to join Dr. Atul Gawande and the whole Coalition gang at our Summit! We're so glad Atul can join us before he takes up his post at USAID.

Together, we'll be reflecting on what it means to prioritize equity and inclusion in serious illness care. How do patients and families define quality care and what matters most? Tune in for a Fireside Chat with Andrew Dreyfus and Michael Curry, we'll share new research findings, and then spend time reflecting with each other in breakout groups. It's going to be great!

Don't miss a Fireside Chat with Andrew Dreyfus from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Michael Curry from the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers at our Summit.