2023 Fall Palliative & Hospice Care Conference

Patients with serious illness have high rates of mental health comorbidities that impact outcomes like symptom burden, care utilization, and quality of life. Hospice and palliative care clinicians are tasked by patients, referring clinicians, and health systems with addressing patients’ and caregivers’ mental health. In this talk, we will review the challenges we face in promoting our patients’ mental health and how adopting new models of care can allow us to continue to lead in the serious illness care landscape by providing holistic, interdisciplinary care.

Dr. Daniel Shalev is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and Assistant Professor of Medicine in Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Shalev obtained his AB from Harvard College and his MD from Weill Cornell Medicine. He completed psychiatry residency, chief residency, and fellowship training in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at Columbia University and fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at New York Presbyterian Cornell and Columbia.  He provides inpatient palliative care and integrated psychiatric care to outpatient palliative care patients. Dr. Shalev leads a research program focused on improving mental health outcomes for individuals with serious medical illnesses. In addition, Dr. Shalev trains palliative care clinicians and fellows in topics related to the intersection of palliative care and psychiatry.  He serves as the Psychosocial associate editor of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Patients with mental and behavioral health conditions can pose unique challenges to providing whole-person interdisciplinary care. This interactive session will include review of a case study across multiple care settings, where we can learn with and from each other about strategies to help care for our patients and ourselves.

Meredith A. MacMartin, MD, MS, FAAHPM, is the Medical Director at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care at DHMC, as well as Assistant Professor of Medicine and The Dartmouth Institute at the Geisel School of Medicine.   She earned her BS at the College of William and Mary, and her medical degree at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. MacMartin completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Palliative Medicine at DHMC and earned a master’s in healthcare research at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.  She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.

Dr. MacMartin is currently a Kornfeld Scholar with the National Palliative Care Research Center. Her research interests include understanding the “mechanism of action” in a palliative care -- how is it that palliative care improves outcomes for patients and families? She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care Alliance of New Hampshire.

Despite our best efforts to meet patients' mental health needs, suicides sometimes occur among hospice and palliative care patients. These tragedies impact families and members of the care team and often lead to questions about what could have been done differently. Panelists will review how to screen for suicidality and steps to take when risks are identified. They will explore what to do if a suicide occurs, including support for the family and the staff, and any administrative action that must occur.

Jennifer Ellsworth, MSW, is a hospice medical social worker at Home Health & Hospice Care in Merrimack, NH. Jennifer earned her Master of Social Work from University at Albany and 12 years experience working in the hospice, palliative and oncology fields in in-patient, out-patient and community settings.

Eric Redard, MDiv, is the Director of Volunteers, Chaplaincy and Bereavement Services at Tufts Medicine Care at Home, Lawrence, MA. He earned a BA at the University of Maine and a Master of Divinity at the Andover newton Theological School. He has served as a hospice administrator, hospice chaplain and pastor.

Cristine Maloney, MD, HMDC, is Medical Director of Palliative Care and Hospice at the Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, White River Junction, VT. Dr. Maloney earned her medical degree at the University of Vermont, did her residency in primary care internal medicine at Yale, and a fellowship in palliative medicine at DHMC. She provides palliative care consultative services at Gifford Health Care and is medical director at Menig Nursing Home, both in Vermont.

The panel will be facilitated by Dr. Dan Shalev.