Join MHA and Honoring Choices Massachusetts as we outline how you can take the first important step to designate a healthcare agent and complete a healthcare proxy.
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How Community Members Can Help A Stressed System
As healthcare organizations and caregivers navigate another challenging winter, the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association is sharing these basic measures that community members can take to help support the system:
- Practice patience and civility for the healthcare workers on the front lines
- Keep up with regular medical appointments and do not hesitate to seek care in emergency situations
- Seek care from your doctor or local urgent care center when appropriate
- Get your flu shot and keep up with COVID-19 boosters
- Remain vigilant about COVID-19 symptoms and exposure
- Take the easy step of creating a personal care plan and designating a health care proxy
We welcome you to share the full graphic below:
Massachusetts e-MOLST Web Portal
New VIDEO. Introduction to MA e-MOLST Web Portal for Honoring Choices Partners. Share with your clinicians and care teams.
Tools & Resources to Use the Portal
Start Proactive Planning Conversations & Document Care Choices
The MA e-MOLST Web Portal offers health care providers and seriously ill, high-risk, and frail adults an effective communication approach to engage in proactive care planning conversations and document patient care choices in MA planning documents.
The web portal provides easy access to Ariadne Labs Serious Illness Conversation Guides, an electronic MA MOLST form (Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment), and links to complete a multi-lingual MA Health Care Proxy. The MA e-MOLST Web Portal is a joint pilot project of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care, Ariadne Labs, and Honoring Choices Massachusetts with support from Vynca, Inc.
Clinicians and their care teams can:
Start a serious illness conversation and understand what matters most
Download Ariadne Labs Serious Illness Conversation Guides
Document patient care choices in a MA MOLST form
If the patient chooses, complete the e-MOLST form in the web portal (English only)
Alternatively, download and complete a multi-lingual MOLST form, and upload to the web portal
Help ensure adults have a Health Care Proxy. Simply ask: “Do you have a Health Care Agent?”
If yes, check that a valid, up to date Health Care Proxy is in the patient record
If no, download and complete a multi-lingual Honoring Choices Health Care Proxy
Music on Our Minds: The Rich Potential of Music to Promote Brain Health and Mental Well-Being
The Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) is an independent collaborative of scientists, health professionals, scholars, and policy experts from around the world who are working in areas of brain health related to human
cognition. The GCBH focuses on brain health relating to people’s ability to think and reason as they age, including aspects of memory, perception and judgment. AARP convened the GCBH to offer the best possible
advice about what older adults can do to maintain and improve their brain health. GCBH members gather to discuss specific lifestyle issue areas that may affect people’s brain health as they age, with the goal of providing
evidence-based recommendations for people to consider incorporating into their lives.
Many people across the globe are interested in learning that it is possible to influence their own brain health and in finding out what can be done to stay as sharp as possible as they age. We aim to be a trustworthy source
of information, basing recommendations on current evidence supplemented by a consensus of experts from a broad array of disciplines and perspectives.
Knowledge about brain health is expanding rapidly. GCBH’s work empowers individuals to benefit from insights on the cutting edge of science and enhance well-being through the course of their lives.
Heywood Healthcare is Bringing Telehealth into its Local Schools
Telemedicine is changing lives – including for students in North Central Massachusetts.
Click here to learn more about Heywood Healthcare’s Tele Behavioral School Base Counseling Program.
MA Hospitals are Ready, Safe & Here for You
Our hospitals are safe places to seek care for any medical emergency. Your health can’t wait. We’re here for you.
In this video, listen as one of our hospital’s emergency department staff takes you through the patient experience when you arrive at Emerson Hospital’s ED during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Caring for the Caregiver Well-being COVID-19 Resources
- Webinars
- Articles, Toolkits, and Digital Resources
- Stress Management
- Caregiver Support
Suicide Prevention Resources for Clinicians & Patients
Medical professionals care. They also experience higher rates of burnout and depressive symptoms than the general population.
In fact, suicide is estimated to be the second leading cause of death for medical residents, and American doctors take their lives at twice the rate of the general population. Samaritans, Inc. is here for you – and for your patients.
The mission of Samaritans is to reduce the incidence of suicide by alleviating despair, isolation, distress and suicidal feelings among individuals in the community, 24 hours a day; to educate the public about suicide prevention; to help those who have lost a loved one to suicide; and to reduce the stigma associated with suicide. Samaritans accomplishes this through services that emphasize confidential, nonjudgmental, and compassionate listening.
Each day, people who are struggling turn to Samaritans in search of compassionate support. If you or anyone you know are feeling sad, lonely, hopeless, or uncertain about anything in your life, you can call or text Samaritans’ 24/7, free, confidential Helpline at 877-870-4673.
Losing a loved one to suicide is a uniquely painful experience. If you or someone you know or care for has lost someone to suicide, Samaritans offer several programs to support you in your grieving including peer support groups and individual home visits.
Community Education & Outreach
Samaritans also offers suicide prevention workshops. For health care professionals, workshops are geared toward helping both providers and patients. You and your team can learn:
•Risk factors and warning signs for suicide
•How to evaluate patients who may be suicidal and how to help them
•Coping skills and resources for patients, loved ones, and yourself
Visit Samaritans website to learn more about these programs and services, for yourself and/or your patients.
Milford Regional Medical Center – Preparing for the Workforce with Project SEARCH
Milford Regional Medical Center adopted Project SEARCH, a national transitional program to teach valuable life and job skills. Designed for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities entering their last year of high school, Project SEARCH provides internship placement based on the student’s experiences, strengths and skills, with the end goal being competitive employment within the community.
Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety
The Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety is a Massachusetts state agency that works with providers, patients and policymakers to advance the safety and quality of health care. Visit its website for actionable toolkits to improve safety in areas such as emergency medicine, sepsis, cataract surgery and more. Sign up for the Center’s monthly newsletter, Patient Safety Beat, for updates on local patient safety news and research.
The Center is also working with hospitals and outpatient practices across Massachusetts to help each develop its own sustainable peer support programs. This is part of a larger effort by the Center to ensure that all individuals – patients, family members, health care professionals and staff – affected by medical harm or a difficult outcome get the support they need.