Palliative Care in the Emergency Department

In this episode, Dr Joanna Chan and Dr Matthew Low interview Dr Kei Ouchi, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, on the topic of Palliative Emergency Medicine. His work focuses on improving care for adults with palliative care needs through high quality serious illness communications in the ED setting. Tune in to find out more! 

Timestamps

00:56 What first drew you to the topic of bringing palliative care to the ED? 

04:49 Could you explain why it is important for an ED doctor to be able to handle these situations well? 

06:26 What does a goals of care discussion in the emergency department sound like in your practice?

08:59 How can you direct the conversation to help patients and families understand the gravity of their present crisis?

13:21 Tips on high-yield questions that help to bring out the wishes of a patient in a new crisis situation that can help the doctor to make a sound recommendation?

15:41 Navigating situations where patients have deferred serious illness decision-making to their family members

20:48 How much time do you budget for your communication when it is your first time meeting the family?

22:55 In terms of communication, what are the common blind spots that you would like to highlight?    

25:19 What ED innovation of the future is likely to have the most impact on ED Palliative Care delivery; What highlights have you seen from your time here with us, and how could we feasibly and meaningfully advance from here? 

References

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8219473/ 

https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/125411 

Credits

Music: Life-line by Colorful Sound via Pixabay/SGH Podcast Studio

https://semspodcast.buzzsprout.com/