A Caregiver's Guide to the Dying Process

Today marks the end of National Family Caregivers Month. Many people who are caring for a terminally ill person have never done it before. A Caregiver’s Guide to the Dying Process can serve as a sensitive, helpful resource for families who are being served by hospice. A Caregiver’s Guide prepares caregivers by discussing both the physical symptoms of dying and the psychological issues that accompany the dying process. It may also be used by hospices and other end-of-life organizations as a helpful training aid for staff and volunteers.

A Caregiver’s Guide to the Dying Process is now available for purchase at our online store. Individuals and families may order individual copies and bulk orders are available in packages of 50 or 100 to organizations that wish to distribute the guide among their patients and families.

National Day of Listening

The National Day of Listening was started by StoryCorps in 2008. Each year, on the day after Thanksgiving, StoryCorps asks all Americans to take an hour to record an interview with a loved one, using recording equipment readily available in most homes-such as computers, iPhones, tape recorders, or pen and paper-along with StoryCorps' free Do-It-Yourself Instruction Guide, available to download at http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/. It's one of the least expensive, but most meaningful, gifts you can give your loved ones this holiday season!

http://storycorps.org/initiatives/legacy/

The 2011 National Day of Listening takes place on Friday, November 25, 2011. Instead of getting lost in Black Friday's long shopping lines, get lost in a conversation with a loved one!

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Those who work with the dying understand the important process of meaning-making at the end of life. HFA recently produced a series of webinars focusing on various techniques and strategies for supporting people in this process. For more information, go to:

http://www.hospicefoundation.org/webinars-spirituality

Three Cs of Coping with the Holidays

by Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, Senior Consultant, HFA
available in HFA's Winter Holiday special issue of Journeys

• This new, expanded special edition of Journeys provides additional support to your clients during the holidays.
• The new, 6-page Winter Holidays Special Issue is packaged in quantities of 50 and 100.  
• Order before December 10, 2011 and use discount code wh2011 to receive 20% off.
• BONUS OFFER: Any organization ordering 100 copies or more will receive a FREE download of “Grief, Holidays, and Family Dynamics.” This audio program features expert advice and practical assistance from Dr. Sherry Schachter and Dr. Kenneth Doka, discussing how professionals can better serve grieving families during these difficult times. One hour of CEs is included for a wide range of professionals.

Dr. Kenneth J. Doka


Excerpt:

With the rollercoaster-like emotions of grief, the holidays can be an especially tough time. We remember the Chanukah that Aunt Sophia danced in the snow, the Christmas that we received a bike, the Thanksgiving when the turkey was undercooked. These memories remind us of our loss. Other reminders such as cards addressed to the person who died, holiday movies, gifts that seem perfect, can make us feel out of sorts with the season. Everyone else seems so happy and joyful.

The holidays are a tough time to grieve. Knowing that does not make them any easier, but at least it may help us understand and accept our reactions, and tap into the things we can do to help ourselves cope with the holidays.

CHOOSE

During the holidays it is easy to drift into activities that increase our pain. But we do have choices. We can decide what activities we wish to participate in, who we want to be with, what we want to do. After her husband died, June was invited, actually pressured, to join her sister-in-law for the holidays. She decided that she would retain the freedom to choose where she wanted to be on Christmas until that morning. "I never know how much energy I'll have, or how I feel until that day," she explained. On Christmas morning, she decided to have dinner with a few women she had met in a local widow's support group. She chose to go to her sister-in-law's house for dessert.

One of the choices we may want to consider is how to mark the loss during the holidays. During the holidays we feel the presence of that person's absence. Finding ways to recognize and acknowledge that individual can bring a positive focus to our grief. This may be done in a number of ways -- lighting a candle, creating a ritual, placing a memento on a tree, a moment of silence or a holiday toast are simple ways to acknowledge the loss.

Read more from "Three Cs of Coping with the Holidays" in the Winter Holidays Special Issue of Journeys today.

Physician Views on Palliative Care at the End of Life Shared

Catherine Campbell,
HFA Outreach and Development Officer

HFA Outreach and Development Officer, Catherine Campbell, attended the National Journal Live policy summit on Capitol Hill yesterday. Top line findings from a study funded by the National Journal and the Regence Foundation, entitled Living Well at the End of Life, were presented. The physician survey conducted by FTI Consulting revealed that “physicians express an overwhelmingly positive impression of palliative care.” However, a majority of physicians, 67%, reported that patients are not well informed about their palliative care options, and 91% percent believe that a lack of adequate information is a somewhat to significant barrier in palliative care implementation. Additionally, there is a significant age gap in physicians’ exposure to palliative care information.


Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and keynote speaker, discussed in depth the learning curve for physicians surrounding conversations on end of life care. He shared with listeners that just thirty years prior end-of-life conversations just were not acknowledged nor a large part of physician training, and there was very little if any education on palliative care or engaging in end-of-life conversations in medical school. The study supports his remarks showing that physicians over sixty receive 62% of their exposure to palliative care in continuing education, as opposed to just 6% in medical school.

These findings evidence the need for greater education and outreach to patients and families in hopes of lowering the barriers to full adaption of palliative and hospice care within the US healthcare system. HFA believes that hospice care is the right choice for many, but not everyone; however, all patients should be informed of every option available to them. Hospice Foundation of America works to support professional and consumer education on hospice and palliative care, including continuing education programs for allied professionals in the field of end-of-life care.

Read the Regence Foundation press release for more information.

Talking with Dying Patients and Their Families

HFA's next Lunch 'n Learn webcast is coming up!

This Lunch 'n Learn segment focuses on the difficult conversations that take place, or need to take place, with a dying patient and his or her family. Topics will include how to begin a conversation, what issues need to be discussed, how to cope with barriers to open communication and other approaches that can assist a dying patient and their family. View the list of board approvals. Panelists are Hank Dunn, MDiv and Diana Davis, RN, and Geoff Coleman, MD, and they will be joined by Phil Carpenter, MDiv, from HFA.

When: December 7, 2011, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
View: Board Approvals

Register Today!

Hank Dunn, MDiv, is an experienced chaplain, having worked over 17 years in both nursing home and hospice settings, a noted author focusing on patients and their families dealing with life-threatening illnesses, and a well-received speaker to a variety of audiences involved in end-of-life care.

Diana Davis, RN, serves as Clinical Manager, Hospice Home Care Team for The Washington Home and Community Hospices, and has worked as a hospice nurse and educator for more than 15 years.
Geoff Coleman, MD, MHA, is Medical Director, Montgomery Hospice, has been a hospice physician since 2003, and previously delivered medical care at a Native American Tribal Clinic in Wisconsin and then internationally in Nairobi, Kenya. He is certified in Hospice and Palliative Care as well as in Family Medicine.

Honoring Veterans at the End of Life

This Friday, November 11, the nation recognizes Veterans Day and honors the service of thousands of men and women in our Armed Forces. The Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) developed "Veterans and End-of-Life Care," a free online webinar written by Deborah Grassman, ARNP, of the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This program will help people learn more about how veterans' military experiences impact their end-of-life experiences - and how hospice can make a difference.

"About 25% of all Americans who are dying are veterans - the men and women who have served our country as members of the Armed Forces," states Lisa McGahey Veglahn, HFA Senior Program Officer. "Yet only 4% of dying veterans die within the Veterans Affairs Healthcare Network. This means that 96% of these veterans are cared for by hospice and healthcare professionals in communities all across the U.S.”

In addition to the program, additional resources and Fact Sheets can be downloaded for sharing with staff, students, and community members at no charge. Free Continuing Education credits are available for a wide range of professionals.

Hospice and end-of-life care professionals will also benefit from viewing HFA's “Reaching Out to Underserved Populations” video. Here, we show a hospice in San Antonio that has a program tailored to the needs of veterans.

These projects are provided through the support of a grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to support hospice and end-of-life care outreach and education.