Let’s get connected through the power of music. The December episode of CONNECT: Addressing Loneliness in Massachusetts,  features  Ron Della Chiesa, legendary Boston radio personality, interviewed by Sandra Harris, State President, AARP MA, and the co- chair Massachusetts Taskforce to End Loneliness & Build Community. It’s an hour of wonderful music and memories to share for adults in your…

Massachusetts is upgrading from MOLST, Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, to an effective, comprehensive POLST Program, Portable Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. Recently Governor Baker signed a bill that authorizes the Executive Office of Elder Affairs to led the POLST upgrade by adopting the National POLST model and building a MA POLST Program and registry. The State…

Welcome Elizabeth J. Collins, MD to the Honoring Choices MA Board of Directors, and co-chair of our new Serious Illness Care Coordination and Transition Advisory Group. Dr. Collins led Lahey Health’s Palliative Care Program for 15 years. She’s been a valued Honoring Choices Partner and guide since 2013. Dr. Collins will lend her deep expertise to…

This past October , the Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of MA (HPCFM) Annual Education Conference was in-person happily bringing together MA, NH, RI hospice and palliative care professionals for networking, new and innovative products, and sharing best practices after 2 years of virtual conferences. A packed agenda include timely topics and key note speakers, notably, Kim Acquaviva, PhD, MSW,…

Asian Women for Health (AWFH) is proud to announce a new Initiative for this upcoming Spring 2023. With the pandemic exacerbating a lot of pre-existing health disparities and inequities in the Asian community, AWFH have developed this training program as an upstream solution to provide more culturally competent and linguistically appropriate care by training unemployed…

Baystate Health nurses, care managers, physicians and community health professionals are asking all patients, across inpatient, primary care and community health settings, if they have appointed a Health Care Agent in a Health Care Proxy. This system-wide advance care planning initiative, led by our long-time partner, Jodi Kashouh, MS, RN-BC, CNL, Healthcare Quality Specialist and colleagues, uses the HCM…

In November, Beth Soltzberg, LICSW, MBA, JF&CS, Lead, Dementia Friends MA, Jewish Family & Children’s Services hosted a one of a kind symposium “Let’s Talk about Dementia and Culture 2022,” in several languages. The English, Portuguese, and Spanish recordings are now available to hear directly from panelists who share vital information and best practices ideas.  Ms. Soltzberg and her colleagues…

Thank you to Sophie Leveque. Reference Librarian II, Health & Human Services Specialist, Boston Public Library, who generously co-hosted with Honoring Choices the 2022 Quarterly Consumer Virtual Webinar Series- “Now’s The Time. Make Your Own Care Plan”. This well attended series helps adults make their own personal plan using the free downloadable Getting Started Tool Kit. The live…

With 19,000 vacancies in MA hospitals, and thousands more in other care sites, the workforce crisis continues to affect every healthcare organization at every level of employment. In July, MA Health & Hospital Association (MHA) hosted its first-ever Workforce Summit to allow leaders to share the innovative strategies and practices they are using to grow, recruit, and retain…

Guiding and empowering healthier lives for everyone- POINT32 Health’s mission- can often start with a simple planning conversation. Working with Lauren Hartwell, MPH Senior Program Manager Population Health Capabilities and her colleagues this past fall, we tailored the Honoring Choices MA (HCM) Who’s Your Agent? Program for Care Providers  to support an inclusive, system-wide Point 32Health…