Dispatches · Issue 50 · Newsletter ·
The Existential Dispatch, Issue No. 50
This is the fiftieth issue of the Dispatch, and it seems right to mark it with the clinician who taught modern medicine to stay with the dying. Thinker of the issue: Cicely Saunders.
A Word from the Founding Director
This is the fiftieth issue of the Dispatch, and it seems right to mark it with the clinician who taught modern medicine to stay with the dying. A Spanish trial now tests whether inviting patients to speak about death harms them, caregiver research describes the inner storm of accompanying someone to the end, and two new films treat grief as a long and strange form of attention. My thanks to every reader who has kept these conversations going.
Existential Thinker of the Issue
Cicely Saunders
“You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life. We will do all that we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” — Dame Cicely Saunders, as quoted in Robert Twycross, “A Tribute to Dame Cicely Saunders” (2006), Oxford Essential Quotations (oxfordreference.com)
Saunders, nurse, social worker and physician, founded St Christopher’s Hospice in 1967 and gave us the idea of total pain, in which physical, emotional, social and spiritual suffering are treated together. Her sentence holds two commitments that still define good palliative care: the person keeps their worth to the end, and the time that remains is still time for living. It asks clinicians to attend to who someone is, including the partners and chosen family who carry their story, as carefully as to what they have.
In Academia
The inner storm of caregiving. A phenomenological study in the Iranian Journal of Ageing (October 15) interviewed 12 caregivers of older adults with advanced cancer and identified five themes, including “the abyss of unsettling doubts” and an “inner storm,” describing psycho-existential distress across physical, social, spiritual and financial domains. salmandj.uswr.ac.ir
Existential distress in older adults with multimorbidity. Writing in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, Abu notes that roughly one third of older adults report clinically meaningful existential or spiritual distress, rising to 40% to 60% with serious illness, and proposes the Age-Friendly Health Systems 5Ms as a practical structure for recognising it. link.springer.com
In Film, Literature and Culture
All of a Sudden. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film, a highlight of the New York Film Festival, follows the director of a nursing home near Paris and a dying artist who joins it as a resident, tracing a bond formed around legacy, care and the approach of the end. bookandfilmglobe.com
Everytime. Sandra Wollner’s drama, screened at the BFI London Film Festival on October 16 and 17, follows a mother, a sister and a boyfriend as they grieve a teenager’s sudden death, and lets each of them work through loss without judgement. loudandclearreviews.com
In Healthcare (Global)
Talking about death appears not to harm palliative patients. Preliminary data from the HABLAR trial at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, running in six Spanish palliative care units with 168 patients with advanced cancer, suggest that a clinician-initiated invitation to talk about death-related thoughts does not worsen distress; the trial concludes in December (report of October 19, in Spanish). andaluciainformacion.es
Workplace violence prevention and the case for a national standard. A physician essay in KevinMD argues for a US federal standard, noting that New York’s new law requires hospitals to keep a continuous security presence and, from January 1, 2027, to complete annual safety and security assessments. kevinmd.com
Funding and Grant Opportunities
NIH Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan (R01). This NIH opportunity supports research on palliative care access, use and quality for people with serious illness and their care partners; the next due date is November 5, 2026. americangeriatrics.org
APOS Health Equity Scholars. The American Psychosocial Oncology Society’s Health Equity Scholars applications for APOS 2027 close on November 2, 2026; late-breaking posters are due November 16. apos-society.org
Conferences and Events
CAPO 2027: The Changing Landscape of Psychosocial Oncology. The Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology invites abstracts, with tracks on equity and sex/gender issues, palliative and end-of-life care, and health care provider wellness; submissions close December 6, 2026. capo.ca
27th IPOS World Congress, Barcelona, November 9 to 12, 2026. The International Psycho-Oncology Society meets in Barcelona next month, and will announce the 2027 congress in November. ipos-society.org
Startup and Innovation Watch
Kwema Smart Badge Reel. This Bentonville company hides a silent duress button inside a retractable hospital ID badge reel, and was named Outstanding New Security Product at the 2026 US Outstanding Security Performance Awards. Tools that make it easier to call for help belong alongside prevention programmes and safe staffing. yahoo.com
To Close: An Existential Joke
At the fiftieth issue party, someone asked the existentialist how it felt to reach a milestone. “Wonderful,” he said. “It is one issue closer to the last.”