Rand Corporation: Karl Lorenz- 'Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life for the Seriously Ill'

Source:RAND Corporation- American health care for one of our senior citizens.

"When we think of “the seriously ill,” many of us conjure up images of individuals who are older, or in hospitals, or near the end of their lives. In fact, people of all ages suffer from chronic and life-threatening illnesses, and health care professionals are always looking for more effective ways to relieve and prevent suffering among their patients and to enhance the quality of care.

How do we improve palliative care training for health practitioners, and how do we better engage patients in the health care decision-making process?

In this event, Karl Lorenz discusses the delivery of palliative care services, training in palliative care, and how research can improve—and philanthropy can support—this vital aspect of health care."

From Rand Corporation

I believe before we talk about how do we improve the quality of healthcare for the seriously ill in America, we should first talk about how do we improve the funding of our over bloated and ineffective health care system. 

As well as talk about preventive care which would also help us not only bring down our healthcare costs, but improve the quality of our healthcare, because we wouldn't have as many Americans with chronic health conditions that are very expensive to treat, like diabetes (to use as a perfect example) because we would have more Americans in this country who would be taking care of themselves and not getting as sick as they do today, because more Americans would be eating better and exercise, because they would have the financial incentive to do so. And not has the serious diseases that way too many Americans suffer from in this developed country. 

As well as talk about how we can encourage more seniors to be treated at home rather than living in hospitals and nursing homes. And finding ways to fund this.