A Revealing Look Inside the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team artwork
The Heart of Hospice Podcast

A Revealing Look Inside the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team

  • S10E17
  • 44:06
  • November 21st 2025

Dr. Jessica Zitter sees how hard family caregivers work and it inspires her to keep going as a physician and caregiver advocate.  Working as a critical care and palliative care physician, an author, and a documentary film maker has positioned Dr. Zitter uniquely to advocate for caregivers and the heavy burden of family caregivers.  Jessica has had personal experiences working as part of an interdisciplinary team that have made her a better practitioner and doctor, and more aware of her own biases. Here are some highlights of this conversation: • The size of the caregiver workforce in the U.S. has grown to 63 million as of 2025. • Caregiving from a distance carries its own set of stressors, including increased financial burden. • Working in an interdisciplinary team can create accountability among the various disciplines. • Implicit and explicit bias influences the quality of the healthcare people receive. • Teams need to make space for every discipline, and it’s the responsibility of those professionals to step forward and claim their seats.  Connect with Reel Medicine Media at reelmedicinemedia.org Find information about The Chaplain and The Doctor Find information about Caregiver: A Love Story Watch the trailer for Extremis here Find Dr. Zitter’s book Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life here Text the word “caring” to 66866 to recieve the Reel Media newsletter and get a free resource guide to chaplaincy. Social media for Dr. Jessica Zitter:  IG   Facebook   X   LinkedIn   YouTube   Vimeo

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible.  And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care.  If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help.  Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95.  If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions.  A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.  

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website:  theheartofhospice.com Social media:  Facebook     Twitter    Instagram   LinkedIn Email:  [email protected] Find more podcast episodes of  The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to [email protected].



The Heart of Hospice Podcast

The Heart of Hospice podcast is dedicated to helping personal and professional caregivers who are caring for someone with serious illness. We're here to provide information and education so people can make informed choices about end of life care.