Without family caregivers, most hospice and palliative care patients would be unable to receive care in the home. Now, some emerging payment models are including caregiver support as a key component. Case in point is the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) model, which the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled in […]
Mettle Health
Many clinicians across the health continuum lack the training and skill sets needed to have goals of care conversations for pediatric patients. Advance care planning discussions are an important, but oftentimes challenging key to supporting serious and terminally ill children and their families, according to Dr. Chris Adrian, a pediatric palliative care physician and writer […]
Many patients fall through the cracks of the nation’s health care system, and hospice and palliative care providers can help to fill in some of those gaps, according to Sonya Dolan, director of operations at California-based Mettle Health. Mettle Health took root in 2020 when hospice and palliative care physician BJ Miller co-founded the for-profit […]
Research is growing around how certain substances such as psychedelics and cannabis can aid in treating pain, anxiety, depression, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, migraines and other medical conditions. Medical cannabis can also be beneficial in symptom management for cancer patients, according to recent research. For instance, certain compounds in the cannabis plant hold […]
Some in the serious illness space believe that psychedelic-assisted therapy represents a new frontier in palliative care, even though the substances remain illegal at the federal level. In recent years, research into the potential medical uses of psychedelics and ketamine has abounded. The focus to date has been concentrated on three areas: mental health, palliative […]
Given the critical role of family caregivers in home-based care, hospices have a vested interest in expanding their access to support. Families caring for seriously ill loved ones face systemic barriers that could threaten patients’ ability to receive care at home, including at the end of life. If a family can’t withstand these burdens, the […]
The nation’s health care system is lacking in support for caregivers of the terminally ill, who are often left with a heavy financial and logistical burden. Without assistance or relief, these difficulties can impede access to hospice. Research has shown that patients who are faced with end-of-life decisions may be less likely to choose hospice […]
The Future Leaders Awards program is brought to you in partnership with PointClickCare. The program is designed to recognize up-and-coming industry members who are shaping the next decade of senior housing, skilled nursing, home health and hospice care. To see this year’s future leaders, visit https://futureleaders.shndonotdelete.wpenginepowered.com/. Sonya Dolan, co-founder and chief operations officer of Mettle […]
The coronavirus pandemic has spurred demand for serious illness and end-of-life care as it continues a global spread. COVID-19 has exposed gaps in the fragmented U.S. health care system, along with opportunities for hospice and palliative care awareness and access to grow. Spreading awareness of palliative care among the public and clinicians in other disciplines […]

