CPSP Little Rock Chapter

Serious Conditions Are Uncovered Among More than 1,000 Patients at Little Rock Free Clinic Another Clinic Is Planned for Kansas City LITTLE ROCK – Saturday’s free health clinic at the Statehouse Convention Center treated more than 1,000 uninsured Arkansas residents with a variety of health problems, many of them serious. More than 90 percent of them had three or more life-threatening conditions, such as cardio-vascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and pulmonary disease. Seven people had such serious conditions that physicians decided they should be taken immediately by ambulances to local hospital emergency departments. Of those, five were admitted to hospitals for cardiac reasons, and two of them had had recent hearts attacks of which they were unaware. “With an army of more than 1,200 volunteers, we changed the lives of more than 1,000 people at this clinic,” Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC), said. “We provided them with not o...

Little Rock C.A.R.E Saturday, November 21, 2009 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm Little Rock State House Convention Center7 Statehouse PlazaLittle Rock, AR 72201 Communities Are Responding Everyday (C.A.R.E) The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) and its partners will be sponsoring a one day free medical clinic for the uninsured on Saturday November 21, 2009. The Little Rock C.A.R.E. Clinic will offer basic medical care and health education. Come help thousands of families gain access to medical screening and care they otherwise may not receive. The Little Rock C.A.R.E. Clinic needs medical and non-medical volunteers! Sign up today! Visit the Little Rock CARE website Register online click here Email: littlerockclinic@freeclinics.us

Sometime ago Don Berwick, MD spoke about 20 improvements that doctors could make in the end of life care of their patients that begins in a simple conversation. Berwick recommended the following considerations as his top three suggestions: 1.Ask yourself as you see patients, "Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next few months?" For those "sick enough to die," prioritize the patient's concerns - often symptom relief, family support, continuity, advance planning, or spirituality. 2.To eliminate anxiety and fear, chronically ill patients must understand what is likely to happen. When you see a patient who is "sick enough to die" - tell the patient, and start counseling and planning around that possibility. 3.To understand your patients, ask (1) "What do you hope for, as you live with this condition," (2) "What do you fear?," (3) It is usually hard to know when death is close. If you were to die soon, what would be left un...

Health care reform is a scary subject for ordinary Americans and this is not been helped by the tone of the current national debate on this issue which has turned terrible nasty. One of the most heated concerns to have emerged recently relates to end-of-life conversations. End-of-life conversations are difficult at the best of times and made all the more difficult in these uncertain days of economic upheaval when many Americans have lost their jobs, health care insurance and homes. Unfortunately, some public figures and national leaders have chosen to offer their critique of the proposed health care reforms using only the most inflammatory language possible. The tenor of this debate does not bode well for the American public in terms of any real substantial change to a health care system which is too costly to sustain and unequal in terms of access. These difficult days call for true leadership which does not fail for lack of nerve to embrace the courage of change in the best interests...