Life Support

A People’s Guide to End of Life with Dr. Joseph Layon

Dr. Joseph Layon, a 30-year intensive care physician present at the beginning of the three major pandemics of our era – HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and SARS-CoV-2, he presently cares for ill fellow humans with these and other critical illnesses joins eHealth Radio and the Health News Channel. He is author of the new book: A People’s Guide to End of Life.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Dr. Joseph Layon discuss the following:
Can you share with our listeners a little about your medical background and what prompted you to write A People’s Guide to End of Life?
If a friend or family member are placed in the ICU and intubated and cannot advocate for themselves, and they are not expected to survive, what can you do to ensure the proper care is given for your loved one’s end of life?
You mention in your book you share some real-world examples of cases that went wrong, and right? Can you share?
What are your final thoughts on advice for our listeners, on the death and dying process in our healthcare system today?
A. Joseph Layon, MD, FACP
Professor of Anesthesiology- The University of Central Florida, College of Medicine Orlando, FL Intensivist – ICC/HCA Ocala, FL
Joseph Layon, MD is an intensive care physician. Trained at Grossmont College, the University of California, San Diego and UC, Davis, and specializing in internal medicine, anesthesiology, critical care and neurocritical care, he has functioned as a clinician, educator, investigator, division and department chair, Faculty Senate Chairman, Medical School Financial “fixer”, internationalist and – in what was the most difficult and painful task of all of these – as an (inadvertent) whistleblower in a compromised health system.
Present at the beginning of the three major pandemics of our era – HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and SARS-CoV-2, he presently cares for ill fellow humans with these and other critical illnesses, writes, reads, rows, and remains an activist in the struggle to make our country and world livable, and just, for all.
 
Website: https://ajosephlayonmd.com 

How to Be Your Loved One’s Best Advocate through an ICU Stay

 
 
Dr. Lara Goitein, MD, a Harvard trained physician specializing in intensive care and lung medicine joins eHealth Radio and the Healthcare and Health News Channels. Her professional interests include quality improvement in healthcare, end-of-life care, the training of new doctors, physician burnout, and improving communication with patients and families. Her new book is The ICU Guide for Families: Understanding Intensive Care and How You Can Support Your Loved One.
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels and guest Dr. Lara Goitein discuss the following:
You worked as an ICU doctor for twelve years in several different hospitals. But in the past several years you’ve transitioned to practicing mostly in your other area of expertise, as a specialist in lung diseases, as well as in hospital quality improvement. Do you miss practicing ICU medicine? Did you like it?
Why did you write this book?
What are examples of some of the practical ways people can help their loved ones when they are admitted to the ICU?
Are there commonalities in the way family members cope with the stress of an ICU admission for a loved one?
As you point out, family members are often desperate for information about their loved one’s condition. But they sometimes find it difficult to know when and how to communicate with the doctors in the ICU. Do you have any advice?
How is ICU medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic different?
Family members are sometimes asked to make very tough decisions on behalf of patients who are not awake or otherwise able to make decisions on their own behalf. This includes decisions about withholding or withdrawing of life support. In your book you offer some suggestions for how to approach these decisions. Could you talk about that?
Lara Goitein, MD, is a Harvard trained physician specializing in intensive care and lung medicine. She founded a clinician-directed quality improvement program at a Santa Fe, New Mexico, hospital and is President-Elect of the Medical Staff.
Her professional interests include quality improvement in healthcare, end-of-life care, the training of new doctors, physician burnout, and improving communication with patients and families. She is an editorial board member and frequent writer for the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, and also writes in the lay press, including the New York Review of Books.
Her new book is The ICU Guide for Families: Understanding Intensive Care and How You Can Support Your Loved One (Rowman & Littlefield, Dec. 1, 2021).
 
 
Website: https://medicalexplainer.com 

The Disque Foundation and Life Support Training

 
 
Paula Patel the Director of Outreach & Mission Fulfillment for the Disque Foundation, with a focus to maintain a strong bond between medical staff and patients, continually striving for strong communication between the team and providing the highest level of medical care joins eHealth Radio and the Health News and Healthcare Channels.
 
Listen to interview with host Eric Michaels & guest Paula Patel discuss the following:
For the benefit of our listeners, please tell us about the Disque Foundation.
Why is life support training so important to the communities that the Disque Foundation serves?
Concerning the goal of empowering a million people with the ability to save a life by 2020: Tell us more about this initiative and how the Disque Foundation intends to achieve it.
What are some notable successes the Disque Foundation has accomplished?
What else would you like listeners to know about the Disque Foundation?
 
Paula R. Patel manages outreach and mission fulfillment initiatives with the Disque Foundation and the Save a Life Initiative. For the past 10 years Paula has experienced the highs and lows of medical care both in the United States and abroad. This personal experience has helped her identify the specific needs and individualistic societal behaviors that affect optimum health care. Paula’s passionate about helping others through medicine and believes education is what makes this possible. 
She finished her Bachelor’s degree in Bioscience & Biotechnology at Drexel University in Philadelphia. After which she went to the Medical University of Lublin in Poland where she received her Medical Degree. She went on to earn her Master’s in Business Administration while working as clinic manager at a non-profit clinic she developed from the ground up.
Her focus is to maintain a strong bond between medical staff and patients, continually striving for strong communication between the team and providing the highest level of medical care. Paula utilizes her combined medical and business knowledge in efforts to provide high quality medical care and is eager to spread health care education.
In her spare time Paula enjoys playing with her four-legged child, Vincent, going to music festivals, traveling and living life to the fullest.
 
 
Website: www.disquefoundation.org
Social Media Links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisqueFoundation Twitter: https://twitter.com/DisqueFNDN Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savealifeinitiative