We often say that hospice isn’t just for clients; it’s for families too. Hospice volunteers are an essential part of that family support system, offering just about every service, task, chore, or other type of support imaginable.
And when we say essential, we mean essential. When hospice was established as a free service to all in 1982, the ensuing Medicare laws required that trained volunteers account for at least five percent of the hospice provider’s total patient care hours. Without our volunteers, we would lose our Medicare compliance and funding. We want to spread the good word about all the amazing ways our hospice volunteers support our hospice agency, clients, and their families. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/the-role-of-hospice-volunteers/ The term “active dying” is used when someone is in the very last stages of the dying process. This is very different than dying because, in most cases, the physical and mental/emotional states of someone in the active dying stages are identifiable and distinguishable from the slower wind down that happens when they are dying or in decline.
Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/dying-vs-active-dying-whats-the-difference/ Honoring a loved one’s resistance to food when they’re dying is one of the hardest parts of the process. Food and nourishment are associated with love, connection, and memory-making. Unfortunately, it can also feel like participating in their resistance to food means accepting the unacceptable or somehow contributing to their death.
Neither of these is true. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/honoring-a-loved-ones-resistance-to-food-when-dying/ If you don’t understand what happens to our bodies when we die, including our mental, emotional, and soul realms, what you do to “care” for the person you love may do more harm than good.
Recognizing that death is not a medical event and deepening our understanding of death's natural progression is one of the most important things any of us can do to respect dying loved ones, their families, and the community as a whole. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/new-rules-of-end-of-life-care-what-happens-when-we-die/ Meeting with doctors and specialists should feel empowering and like you’re a stakeholder in your care team. However, most patients with a terminal or chronic diagnosis feel the exact opposite. The combination of limited appointment times, medical speak, the emotional rollercoaster of handling all you’re hearing, and the desire for healing can mean you embark on a treatment autopia track that runs out of control.
That should never be the case. It’s time to reclaim control of your treatment plan, so you and your family make the right decisions for your values, well-being, and quality of life. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/reclaiming-control-of-your-treatment-plan/ Most people who work in the realm of death, dying, and grief would agree that Americans are primarily a death-phobic culture. People fear death, often refusing to talk about it, perpetually putting off making end-of-life plans, and have never seen a person die. As a result, the idea that “death is beautiful” can seem downright impossible.
Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/embracing-death-as-beautiful/ The medical world operates in a “fix it” paradigm, which is a wonderful thing in most cases. However, we’ve found that the model lacks the wisdom of a long-term, bigger-picture approach when treating terminal or chronic health conditions.
If patients aren’t careful, they wind up pursuing treatments they would never have in the beginning or participating in treatments that diminish their quality of life in irreversible and regrettable ways. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/when-to-stop-disease-treatment/ Caregiving for a spouse, parent, or close family member is a noble job – and it’s also an exhausting one. Those who serve as primary family caregivers are at risk for caregiver fatigue, which leads to burnout.
In addition to compromising your own health and well-being, caregiver fatigue and burnout compromise the level of care your loved one receives. You simply cannot provide patient, unending care around the clock if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/recognize-prevent-caregiver-fatigue-and-burnout/ One of the most common questions hospice nurses and staff receive is, “How will we know when they’re dying?” It’s challenging not to have a clear answer to the question. We never know if a person is truly dying until they die. Everyone’s journey and transition between living and dying are different.
However, what we can do is educate families about the dying process and some of the common signs that indicate a person is actively dying. Again, this won’t be a day, hourly, or minute prediction. Instead, recognizing these signs and being willing to face them with an open heart can completely transform an individual and family’s story. Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/how-do-we-know-when-a-loved-one-is-dying/ Fear of pain is the #1 reason people name why they’re afraid of dying. This is where hospice care comes into play. The sooner you contact local hospice agencies and learn about the services, the sooner patients and families have access to an incredible array of support tools, including pain management and comfort care.
Read the rest of this article at https://hospice.me/death-shouldnt-hurt-hospice-care-pain-management/ |
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