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One Man's Quest to Change the Way We Die - How B.J. Miller, a doctor and triple amputee... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...-to-change-the-way-we-die.html

palliative compassion

shared by Dennis OConnor on 05 Aug 20 - No Cached

Dennis OConnor on 05 Aug 20

Recommended by DeAunne Denmark MD PhD: BJ Miller, MD @ UCSF Palliative Medicine - one of the foremost experts and innovators in the field. "You don't have to spend much time there (Zen Hospice) to realize that the most crucial, and distinctive, piece of the operation is its staff of volunteers. Freed of most medical duties by the nursing staff, the volunteers act almost as existential nurses. They sit with residents and chat, offering their full attention, unencumbered by the turmoil a family member might feel. The volunteers are ordinary people: retired Macy's executives, social workers, bakers, underemployed millennials or kibitzing empty-nesters. Many are practicing Buddhists. Many are not. (Miller isn't.) But Buddhism informs their training. There's an emphasis on accepting suffering, on not getting tripped up by one's own discomfort around it. "You train people not to run away from hard things, not to run away from the suffering of others," Miller explained.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Recommended by DeAunne Denmark MD PhD: BJ Miller, MD @ UCSF Palliative Medicine - one of the foremost experts and innovators in the field. "You don't have to spend much time there (Zen Hospice) to realize that the most crucial, and distinctive, piece of the operation is its staff of volunteers. Freed of most medical duties by the nursing staff, the volunteers act almost as existential nurses. They sit with residents and chat, offering their full attention, unencumbered by the turmoil a family member might feel. The volunteers are ordinary people: retired Macy's executives, social workers, bakers, underemployed millennials or kibitzing empty-nesters. Many are practicing Buddhists. Many are not. (Miller isn't.) But Buddhism informs their training. There's an emphasis on accepting suffering, on not getting tripped up by one's own discomfort around it. "You train people not to run away from hard things, not to run away from the suffering of others," Miller explained. </div>

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