The Existential Dispatch, Issue No. 51

A Word from the Founding Director

Dignity therapy was designed for the last weeks of life, yet recent research asks what it becomes when offered earlier, or adapted for queer and trans patients who have often had to defend their own story. A Stoic emperor and a novelist at a bedside offer two ways of holding the same truth: that time is finite, and that this is a reason to live well now rather than a reason to wait.

Existential Thinker of the Issue

Marcus Aurelius

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations IV.17, trans. George Long (brians.wsu.edu)

Marcus wrote these notes to himself on campaign, with plague and war close at hand. The line does not ask us to dwell on death; it treats finitude as an argument for acting rightly in the present. In clinical work this is the difference between deferring difficult conversations and having them while patients can still choose, decide and be heard. It applies to clinicians as well: the kindness we intend to offer later is only real if we offer it today.

In Academia

Poetic dignity therapy for sexual and gender minority patients. A pilot trial in Psycho-Oncology adapted dignity therapy with questions on sexual and gender identity and a poetic rendering of each narrative; all 13 participants found it acceptable, and themes included charting one’s own course, discrimination, and love and belonging. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Reframing dignity therapy during chemotherapy. A letter in Palliative & Supportive Care (October 8) responds to a study of dignity therapy during active treatment for advanced gastric and pancreatic cancer, proposing patient-chosen pathways of legacy, identity continuity and living forward, so that early sessions do not imply premature closure. cambridge.org

In Film, Literature and Culture

Death of an Ordinary Man. Sarah Perry’s first work of nonfiction, published October 6, recounts the final days of her father-in-law David, who died at home in Norwich nine days after a diagnosis of metastatic oesophageal cancer, and moves between bedside detail, history, poetry and philosophy. shelf-awareness.com

Luna, Phoenix, Queen. NPR calls Julie Orringer’s new novel a love story of sickness and health, dementia and brilliance, betrayal and loyalty (review of October 15). npr.org

In Healthcare (Global)

Older LGBTQIA+ people in health and social care. A scoping review of 83 studies from Queen’s University Belfast, published October 13 in Social Sciences, found persistent discrimination and constrained disclosure, especially for trans people, and identified chosen family networks and LGBT+ community support as protective, including for advance care planning. mdpi.com

LGBTQ+ caregivers. A new fact sheet from the Center for Health Care Strategies notes that LGBTQ+ people are more likely to be primary caregivers and to care for friends and chosen family, and sets out policy needs for supporting them. johnahartford.org

Funding and Grant Opportunities

Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging. The National Institute on Aging’s Beeson award supports early-career investigators committed to research on aging; the next deadline is November 10, 2026. americangeriatrics.org

Conferences and Events

ASPHO 2027, Montréal, May 11 to 14, 2027. The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology meets in Montréal; abstracts, including psychosocial and palliative work, are accepted until December 21, 2026. aspho.org

BPOS Annual Conference 2027. The British Psychosocial Oncology Society has opened abstract submissions for its 2027 conference, welcoming work across the full breadth of psychosocial oncology. bpos.org

Startup and Innovation Watch

Pal (Amsterdam). Pal is a digital palliative care platform for families, with a shared care planner, a symptom tracker and a virtual care team that brings friends and relatives into one place; it is backed by Antler, Rabobank and Plug and Play. Tools like this matter most when they make room for the full circle of people who actually provide care, chosen family included. startup-seeker.com

To Close: An Existential Joke

A Stoic was asked why he never put off until tomorrow what he could do today. “Because,” he said, “I have read the forecast.”