Exclusive
Angelo Volandes
- Physician, Writer, and Patients' Rights Advocate
Travels From
Massachusetts
Angelo Volandes Speaker Biography
Dr. Angelo Volandes is a physician, writer, and patients' rights advocate. He practices internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and is on faculty at Harvard Medical School. He is Co-Founder and President of Advance Care Planning (ACP) Decisions, a non-profit foundation implementing systems and technologies to improve the quality of care delivered to patients in the health care system. He is the author of the new book "The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care," about how people can empower themselves to get the right medical care at the right time and on their terms.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, he was educated at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania. He lectures widely across the country, and spends his time in Massachusetts with his wife Aretha Delight Davis, MD, JD and their two daughters.
To book Healthcare Speaker Dr. Angelo Volandes call Executive Speakers Bureau at 901-754-9404.
There is an unspoken dark side of American medicine-keeping patients alive at any price. Two thirds of Americans die in healthcare institutions tethered to machines and tubes at bankrupting costs, even though research shows that most prefer to die at home in comfort, surrounded by loved ones.
Dr. Angelo E. Volandes believes that a life well lived deserves a good ending. What people with a serious illness, who are approaching the end of their lives, need most is not new technologies but one simple thing: The Conversation. And sometimes words alone are not enough, patients need visual images to imagine medical interventions.
Dr. Volandes leads a group of internationally-recognized researchers who create and study video decision aids to empower patients and families to make informed decisions at the end of life. Research studies suggest that there are numerous barriers to communication between doctors and patients. One innovation to surmount these barriers includes using video decision aids to reinforce end-of-life conversations. He argues for a radical re-envisioning of the patient-doctor relationship and offers ways for patients and their families to talk about this difficult issue. Does your hospital and health care system align patient preferences at the end of life with care delivered? Dr. Volandes hopes to ensure that patients will be at the center and in charge of their medical care. Videos enhancing The Conversation may be one giant step in the right direction.
