Palliative Matters – Details, episodes & analysis

What motivates doctors’ decision-making beyond evidence, knowledge, and experience? As Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow discuss, our patient's wants and wishes should always be considered. Often, though, doctors make decisions based on fear–fear of litigation, of being wrong, or of missing something, especially when uncertainty is present. In this episode, the doctors share how we can mitigate negative motivators by putting the patient first.

As physicians, we let our experiences and knowledge guide us. Often, this leads to us entering a patient’s room with some assumptions in hand. However, it’s important to remember that people with the same diagnosis can have completely different emotional reactions, and it’s our job to meet them where they are. In this episode, Dr. John Mulder and Dr. Jason Beckrow discuss overcoming unconscious bias in palliative medicine by taking the time to understand the patient's perspective and learning about their unique journey.

How can music address the psychological, physiological, and sociological issues associated with life-limiting illnesses and the end-of-life? In this episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow are joined by renowned musical therapist Dr. Deforia Lane. She talks about the role that music can play in meeting the unique needs of each patient as it activates different parts of the brain to address mood, pain, and even communication. 

In this special episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow are joined by Dan and Lisl Keuning, who share their personal experience with Dan’s frontal temporal dementia diagnosis. They discuss how the life-limiting illness has impacted their lives and how, after finding the right palliative care practitioner to work with, the Keuning family’s care and outlook have changed.

When people hear the word hospice, it often brings about fear and anxiety. But when the interdisciplinary services and benefits hospice provides are explained, the reaction is usually much different. In this episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow discuss the importance of patients understanding what their diagnosis means and learning about strategies and resources that they can engage with to help manage their illness.

As a society, we have a tendency to avoid talking about death and dying. But as palliative and hospice care providers, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow are exposed regularly to the end-of-life journey. In this episode, they discuss how, as doctors, they help patients come to terms and make peace with their medical circumstances. They also help listeners better understand the dying process and the physical, emotional, and spiritual components they often witness.

When someone enters palliative or hospice care, a whole new set of tools and resources become available, including bereavement care for their loved ones. In this episode, the doctors discuss how we all have a duty to be present for those who are grieving and how bereavement services help people move toward healing in their own way.

While palliative care can have a profound impact on patients, it can also be transformational for their family, friends, or others who they are close with. In this episode, the doctors discuss the unexpected blessings that come along with treating patients with the resources that palliative care provides—including the healing, closure, and meaningful connections that they have witnessed.

Advance care planning involves discussing and preparing for future decisions about medical care, and, as the doctors explain, it is all about patient autonomy. What does a patient value? How do they define their quality of life? Where do they draw the line? In this episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow dive into the importance of having these conversations with your loved ones as early as possible, acknowledging that wants and wishes can change over time based on a patient’s circumstance, age, and illness. 

Can someone experience healing while not being cured of their disease? In this next episode, Dr. Mulder and Dr. Beckrow discuss the differences between being healed and being cured. In their experience, while someone may not be cured of their disease, they can experience healing in a variety of ways. They talk about cases that have taught them that they can’t always “fix” things and that managing and treating in meaningful ways doesn’t necessarily end with a cure.