We spend so much time planning for all sorts of activities in our lives – while we project our lives into the future by planning, hoping, and expecting average daily outcomes, there is one thing that always seems to be left as an afterthought. Death is the one thing that happens to each one of us and […]
Healing Touches for Hospice Patients and Their Families
Pain can take on several different dimensions including physiological (the actual physical sensation and the person’s accompanying response), cognitive (patients who might anticipate pain based on memories of when they had pain in the past), and emotional. Hospice is about providing comfort and dignity at the end-of-life and so it’s not uncommon for hospices to […]
End-of-Life Decisions Fueled by Information, Not Fear
We prepare for the end of our life by creating living wills and power of attorneys, but when the dying process actually begins to take place, we still tend to reach for medical technology in the attempt to exhaust all other possibilities. Unfortunately, what’s being sacrificed with that is quality of life. It’s completely natural […]
Volunteer Q&A with Cathy Scott
Type of volunteer: Hos-pets Hometown: Delray, Florida Favorite place you’ve lived: Okatie home and the Florida Keys What convinced you to move to the Lowcountry? The beauty and nature. What do you do for a living? I own a vacation rental/resort company Favorite hobbies: Gardening, cooking, reading, fishing I did everything I wanted, experienced it […]
The Long Goodbye
Frailty and serious illness can involve significant losses over an extended period of time, giving rise to sadness and grief for years, emotions that are typically acknowledged only after a loved one’s death, when formal rituals recognizing a person’s passing —a wake, funeral, or Shiva begin. Feeling of loss of the future that an older adult and […]
Music and Art Therapy as Pain Control in Hospice
Music Therapy, also known as Expressive Therapy, is one of two types of complementary and alternative medicine that have shown to be beneficial for hospice patients for pain control and reducing agitation, depression, and improving their overall quality of life. Similarly, art therapy has demonstrated improvements in pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression among palliative care […]
Holding Space
Whether you’re a caregiver or a health care practitioner, the importance of holding space for the person who’s dying is enormously important. It allows the patient to be able to spend their remaining time in a level of quality end-of-life care that includes non-judgment, allowing explorations of the life they’ve lived and the time that’s […]
Hospice Photography Creates Legacy for Families
Scenes from a loved one’s final days can be moving and meaningful. Several professional photographers have been expanding their portfolios of weddings, graduations, and other larger family events to include end-of-life photography for terminal patients. One example is Shannon MacFarlane of Tacoma, Washington, who has worked exclusively as a “bereavement photographer” since 2013. MacFarlane uses […]
Top Ten Smart Things To Do Now to Better Prepare for Death
Have These Two Health-Related Documents An advanced directive, also known as a living will, and a durable power of attorney (POA), also known as a health care proxy, are the two most important documents you should have for your end-of-life planning. The living will lays out the type of medical treatment you want – things […]
The Myth of Grief: Do You Ever Really Move On?
Death means different things to different people. It’s completely normal to wonder how to get over something as deeply emotional as the loss of a loved one, or even the loss of a pet. What’s important to keep in mind is that the stages of grief are unique to everyone, they are felt and experienced […]
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