Four Terminally Ill Patients Walk Into A Bar…

Despite years of change, African Americans feel ostracized from the medical care community that is dominated mainly by white people, especially when it comes to hospices. Some are trying to remove the stigma of hospice care as well as make health care systems more fair.

A hospice patient's end-of-life desires are most often thwarted when well-meaning loved ones see the patient in some sort of distress. New programs ask first-responder paramedics to work with hospice programs to better honor a person’s end-of-life wishes.

To help develop the arts scene and also increase economic development in the North Shore area of Staten Island, one family formed a non-profit organization to renovate the St. George Theatre and build it up as a revitalized performing arts space. Since 2004 when the theatre was reopened, the area has seen economic growth, and data supports the idea that cities with arts and cultural resources make for healthier and happier communities.

Virtual reality is being used as part of medical education providing a way for nurses and other medical workers to better understand how a patient may experiencing their surroundings. Virtual reality modules have been created for blind, colorblind, dementia, and dying patients.

Dementia units and long-term care homes for the elderly are often desolate and lonely places, with harried workers attempting to meet the needs of their patients while also meeting government-set metrics of success. For families and individuals, it can be difficult to imagine a better way. However, a pilot program in Canada called the Butterfly room is showing that dedicated efforts to making long-term care homes a vibrant and loving place for someone's last days has positive impacts for everyone - and is worth a government investment do right across the country.

Instead of simply prioritizing growth, nonprofits need to implement carefully sized solutions with consideration to the longevity of their model. The closure of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, California, demonstrates how issues stemming from rapid growth scaling can undermine the longevity of a nonprofit’s mission. As the hospices’ human- and mindfulness-centered approach faded in the face of expansion, the toll and tensions led to a loss of crucial human capital, leading the hospice to close.

A stand-alone hospice in the city of Bengaluru is the sole provider of end-of-life care for the terminally ill in the region. Having helped nearly 11,000 patients and trained nursing aids during a six-month course to provide both in-house an at-home care, the palliative care model is filling the gap between diagnosis and outcome.

A coordinated care program is helping provide in-home care to those who are considered pre-hopsice and who are combatting chronic health issues. While the program doesn't always financially help the hospitals it operates out of due to a reduction in emergency room visits, the patient is able to save almost half of what they would have spent on regular hospital visits.

A public hearse, donated by a National Assembly member, helps around three families a day carry their deceased relatives to burial grounds. The minivan, with no seats and a siren on top, has had a profound effect in the area, which is often dealing with disease and occasional armed conflict. Previously, families carried bodies on foot or strapped to a motorcycle, and often had to pay someone to do it. The public service is overseen by a hearse management committee and the city’s 90,000 residents are charged a mandatory fee of about $1.28 per household to cover repairs, gas, and payments to the driver.

Animal chaplains provide spiritual support, specifically focusing on relationships with animals. Animal chaplains help clients prepare for a pet’s passing and run animal loss support groups, regardless of a person’s religious beliefs or affiliation.