The Better End Podcast
by Arnav Sankaranthi
Abstract
In 1945, the majority of deaths in the US occurred in homes, but by the 1980s, it had dropped to 17% of the US population dying at home. Now, the medical system has increased medicalized mortality, where doctors and nurses provide care to the elderly and terminally ill, rather than families. The elderly and the sick desire independence, freedom, and meaning, even amidst the limitations of the body.
The topic of end of life care has surfaced up prominently as a result of the unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic. In many hospitals during the first few waves of coronavirus, hoards of patients filled hospitals and doctors, with layers of PPE, attended to them. Since many COVID patients are isolated from family and are not able to connect with them just before they die, this drastically affects a patient’s quality of end-of-life care. Additionally, epicenters of coronavirus outbreaks whose hospitals may have reached capacity tend to put resource allocation and medical necessities over patient psychosocial well-being during their last moments.
Featured here is a series of podcast episodes entitled The Better End. These podcast episodes share perspectives on the current landscape, the effects of the pandemic, and approaches to improve the future of palliative care. This project was inspired by “The Reprieve” from This American Life podcast as well as the Metastasis podcast by Dr. Lan Li. The first podcast episode is entitled “Life at the End of Life.” This episode contains conversations from an interview with Dr. Marcia Brennan, an art history and religious studies professor at Rice University as well as a Literary Artist in Residence at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Brennan meets with patients at the last moments of their lives, asks them introspective questions, and allows them to hear “the beauty of their own words.” In the episode, Dr. Brennan explains her role as Artist in Residence, shares patient stories, and speaks about how the pandemic has affected her work. Similar to “The Reprieve,” this episode is organized into three “acts,” which together reveal how the dying can make meaning from their life experiences.
The second episode in the series is called “Palliative Care: A Physician’s Perspective.” This episode features an interview with Dr. Vidhya Koka, a family practice physician who used to be a Director of Hospice Care. Providing some context from medical research articles as well as ethnographies on end of life care, I weaved Dr. Koka’s comments into the episode. Overall, this diversity of perspectives in this podcast can provide more insight into the facets of palliative care in the United States.
Podcast Audio
The Better End Podcast Playlist: Episodes 1 & 2
Transcript of Episode 1:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d2ldGnfZ3w8W-sEtulVtJu8YM3W0YfJ497p966BT9Kw/edit?usp=sharing
Transcript of Episode 2:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PEt1hn1wGP5Rf8SBTxxs8sJc1FEQ80wlr2gEqib0L7o/edit?usp=sharing
References
Abbott, Jean, et al. “Ensuring Adequate Palliative and Hospice Care During COVID-19 Surges.” JAMA, vol. 324, no. 14, 21 Sept. 2020, pp. 1393–1394., doi:10.1001/jama.2020.16843.
Brennan, Marcia. “For the Love and Respect of the Service: Applied Aesthetics and Palliative Care.” Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, vol. 06, no. 10, Oct. 2013, pp. 1–7., doi:10.4236/jbise.2013.610a1001.
Brennan, Marcia. Life At The End of Life: Finding Words Beyond Words. Intellect, 2017.
Field, Marilyn J., and Christine K Cassel. Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life. National Academy of Sciences, 1997.
Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Metropolitan Books, a Part of Henry Holt and Company, 2014.
Kaufman, Sharon R. … And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life. University of Chicago Press, 2006.
Lapid, Maria I., et al. “Providing Quality End-of-Life Care to Older People in the Era of COVID-19: Perspectives from Five Countries.” International Psychogeriatrics, vol. 32, no. 11, Nov. 2020, pp. 1345–52. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1017/S1041610220000836.
Inspiration
Thumbnail: Original Background Photo
- Speciality – Best Multispecialty Hospitals in Kottayam. https://marsleevamedicity.com/speciality/.
Podcast Background Music
- https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/tenderness