Episode 61: Bringing Perspective and Comfort to Serious Illness

“We play a role in all of life’s events—of joy and of sorrow. Myjob is to make sure that however long or however short someone has that they’re living the life that they want to live.”—this quote is from Dr. Dominic Moore, pediatrician at Primary Children’s Hospital and associate medical director for palliative care, homecare and hospice for Intermountain Healthcare, in a recent podcast with Dr. Mark Briesacher, chief physician executive. Dr. Moore talks about attending to the physical, psychosocial and spiritual aspects of chronic, serious and end-stage illnesses. Because he’s also a professional musician and, a bit of a philosopher, the conversation runs deep and speaks to how medicine can blend science with creativity, emotion and humanization—and how any healthcare professional can approach this with patients and families.