Living Your Best Life with Palliative Care
Today’s episode tackles a topic that is often misunderstood, palliative care. Many people hear the term and immediately think of end-of-life care but that’s not what palliative care is. In reality, it’s about improving quality of life, managing symptoms, and helping you live as fully and comfortably as possible, no matter where you are in your metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatment.
We’re joined by Dr. Jones, a palliative care physician who has worked closely with people living with MBC. He brings not only medical expertise, but also deep compassion and insight into the emotional and physical needs of our community.
In this conversation, we explore:
What palliative care truly means
How to access palliative care services
Why integrating palliative care early can make such a meaningful difference
Whether you’re newly diagnosed or have been living with MBC for many years, this episode offers clarity, reassurance, and practical information to support you on your journey.
Episode Notes:
Center to Advance Palliative Care
Jones named Editor in Chief of Journal of Palliative Care Medicine
Meet the Guest of the Episode
Christopher Allen Jones, MD, MBA, CPC, HMDC, FAAHPM
Dr. Jones supports “everyone's Plan A of getting better and back to normal life and Plan B if things don't go as we hope". Helping someone become well enough to take a trip to the beach or the mountains or play a bit more with their kids or grandkids is what makes me tick!”
Dr. Jones started his health care career during college as a nursing assistant in a nursing home in Pennsylvania. During his training at Brown University, Dr. Jones came to discover that his true passion was caring for people with serious illness. He spent the first decade of his career in hospitals, providing palliative services to patients admitted to the floors or intensive care units. Since then, missing longer-term relationships with patients, Dr. Jones has spent more time on the outpatient side of palliative care, working to partner with those with serious or advanced illnesses to help make life better. Whether treating pain, constipation, nausea, shortness of breath, anxiety, depression, fatigue, poor appetite, poor sleep, or any other symptoms making people feel lousy, he aims to use medicines and non-medicine strategies to improve quality of life and function. Dr. Jones is currently the Director of Outpatient Palliative Care and the Clinical Vice Chief of Palliative Care for Duke University Health System.
Follow Dr. Jones on Twitter @CAJonesMD
