The State of Palliative Care in South Dakota.

As numbers of patients living with chronic diseases are increasing, there is a growing demand for physicians who have knowledge to provide interventions that align with the goals of palliative care. The increasing number of patients living with chronic disease creates a challenge for the healthcare landscape of South Dakota. Even though South Dakota has a growing number of fellowship trained and board certified palliative and hospice physicians to help meet patient needs, there is a shortage of providers to meet the demand.

Pragmatic Trial of Palliative Care Support Using Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Mentoring.

Increasing rates of chronic diseases and an aging population have placed palliative care at the forefront of public health efforts. The major goal of palliative care is to achieve the best possible quality of life for patients and their families or caregivers. To reduce barriers and improve palliative care, the From Advance Care Planning Toward Palliative Care coalition was first formed in South Dakota in 2017.

Embrace: addressing anticipatory grief and bereavement in the perinatal population: a palliative care case study.

Anticipatory grief is experienced by families who are informed that their unborn child may not survive in utero or during or after delivery. The child who survives delivery, but is critically ill, brings a combination of emotions to the family: joy in welcoming a new life and fear for the future. The healthcare team members caring for the patient and family often witness this grief and are impacted.

Consideration of psychosocial factors in the evaluation of living donors.

Results of donor outcome studies indicate that most living donors report a positive psychosocial response to donation. However, negative psychosocial outcomes have also been reported. Evaluation guidelines have been proposed, although a standardized evaluation specific to living donors is not yet available.

Anonymous donation: a transplant center's experience.

As demands for organs increase, transplant centers are now considering alternative resources. This paper looks at the experiences of one kidney transplant center as it developed its anonymous donor protocol. The authors review the historical use of living donors and discuss why the program initially considered this type of donor.