#28 The Platinum Rule and Advance Care Planning with Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov

05.09.2022

#28 The Platinum Rule and Advance Care Planning with Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov

Care for others how you would wish to be cared for yourself. It sounds great and is a maxim embedded in healthcare, but is there a better way? In this episode I talk with Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov about The Platinum Rule, Advance Care Planning and truly personalised care.

Novo Nordisk supplied sponsorship to produce this episode.  Novo Nordisk has had no influence in the creation, development or content of this podcast and full control remains the responsibility of Clare Fuller.

Key messages from guest

  • Harvey describes his 35 year career in the interface between psychiatry, oncology and palliative care

  • In the absence of paying attention to the physical, psychological, and existential we really can’t offer holistic or “dignity conserving” care.

  • If you don’t understand personhood you cannot really understand who a patient is.

  • Following a series of studies, research has demonstrated that personhood, or the ability to acknowledge an individual is the most powerful predictor of dignity remaining intact.

  • The Patient Dignity Question: “What do I need to know about you to give you the best care possible?”

  • The Golden Rule has been cited in religious texts and is a notion of treating people how you or the people you care about would wish to be treated. 

  • A challenge with the Golden Rule is the possibility for unintentional bias, in other words there is a challenge your world experience or outlook might not align with the person you are caring for. Ideas about quality of life can be wildly divergent between a healthcare professional and patient. 

  • The Platinum Rule encourages us to do unto others what they would want done unto themselves.

  • The Platinum Rule can also be valuable for substitute decision makers (or attorneys in Lasting Power of Attorney).

  • The Platinum Rule is at the heart of equity, diversion and inclusion.

Resource

Bio: Dr Harvey Max Chochinov

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a Senior Scientist at CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute. His research in palliative care has resulted in more than 300 career publications, broaching emotional issues at end of life. He has also led a large program of research on dignity within the healthcare setting. His book, Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days was the 2011 winner of the Prose Award. He is the co-founder of the Canadian Virtual Hospice and editor of The Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine (Oxford University Press). He is an Officer in the Order of Canada, and an inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

 


 

What one thing will you do?

It would be great to share what resonated with you from this episode, what is the one thing you will do differently? Head to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to continue these important conversations.


Thanks to all my guests for working with me to share their knowledge, experience and stories about Advance Care Planning. I hope you enjoyed listening and have insights to take away; I love hearing your reflections on the series and look forward to reviews on Spotify where you can also subscribe to the series.

Clare

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