August 29, 2019 |  3
In my community, they have an event every Thursday call “Thursday Night Out.” The village sets up tables, blocks off a street, arranges for a band, some wine/beer, arts and crafts for the kids. It’s low-key and low commitment, both of which make the exponential joy generated from this event all the more wondersome. As […]
August 26, 2019 |  3
The doctor opened the door after a gentle knock. He was greeted with warmth, offered a seat by Mary, and promptly sat down on the end of the hospital bed. As he sat, the family stood to greet him. They discussed the grandkids, the trips taken since they last saw each other. The room felt peaceful. Time slowed down. Walking in behind my […]
August 21, 2019 |  3
I lost my dad a couple of years ago to bladder cancer at age 86, but the truth is, he had already been quietly slipping away from us for several years into the twilight of Alzheimer’s Disease. More recently, I have watched my friend Sheri struggle with the challenges of being a full-time caregiver for […]
August 7, 2019 |  5
In 2017, Dr. Don Berwick wrote about “breaking the rules for better care.” He was discussing a more systematic way for organizations to ask clinicians, staff, and patients about the “habits and rules [that] appear to be harming care without commensurate benefits and, with prudence and circumspection, to change them.” As I spent long hours […]
August 1, 2019 |  1
My bugaboo on the nutrition front has been and will always be, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), aka, liquid candy (or death).  The causes for widespread use are many: sugar subsidies, marketing, social mores  (think soda in baby bottles or at nightly meals within certain groups), and education. The only proven strategy to reduce consumption, not just in select […]