Understanding and Managing Grief, May 12 - May 18, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Working while mourning: How to grieve when you're on the job, http://j.mp/2HCEMUz « NBC News

Am I Going Crazy or Grieving? http://bit.ly/2HuIi3C « Shine On Counseling

Why we need to talk about grief, http://j.mp/2HI9wUz « Harper's Bazaar

Pet Loss: Death of A Service Dog

[Reviewed and updated July 30, 2024]

A service dog can mean a whole new way of life for the handicapped. The activities that able-bodied people take for granted now can be routine for the disabled also, with the help of a four-footed therapist.  ~ Janet Ruckert, EdD

A reader writes: I have been looking at your websites and the materials that you offer for pet loss. I'm wondering if any of it would be of help to me. I lost my dear sweet black Lab Service Dog to malignant melanoma just a few weeks ago. She was not a pet ~ she was my assistant and helper and light of my life for nine and a half years. She was my constant companion and went with me everywhere. She helped me every day both physically and emotionally. I use a wheelchair and a specially converted rampvan for mobility. If I fell my dog would go find help for me. Her loss has left an unbelievably huge hole in my heart. I let her go because I could not and would not let her continue to hurt like I know that she was. I need her so much and just can't seem to let myself get on with the things I need to do in my life without her.

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 11 - November 17, 2018

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week: 

Updated today: Resources for Service Members and Their Families, http://bit.ly/2INmK5v « Grief Healing

10 Ways to Manage Tantrums After Loss, http://j.mp/2B1D7Gn « Modern Loss

ALERT! It's STILL HAPPENING! Curious Cats Get Killed in Clothes Dryers, http://bit.ly/2xRAUdR « Grief Healing

Voices of Experience: Four-Footed Healers Support The Team

by Michael Shannon O’Keefe

Isolation is a natural reaction to depression and grief. If you’re in the depths of depression, it can be hard to pick up the phone and call a friend. If you’ve lost of a loved one, lost your good health, or lost a relationship, you may pull inward and grieve alone.

But just because isolation is natural doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Isolation can create a spiral of despair. Depression and grief cause people to cut themselves off from friends and family, which in turn causes more depression and grief, and so on.

Talk therapy and medications are the standard treatments for these states of mind. Recent research, however, points to another way to help people escape that spiral. It’s been called the pet effect. Simply put, being around animals helps people feel less isolated, depressed, and grief-stricken.

Caregiving and Hospice, April 3 - April 9, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

How a Service Dog Saved My Life, http://j.mp/1q4PwjY « HuffPost Accessibility

In Facing Death: We Are All So Different, http://j.mp/1VteQMq « Grief Watch

21 Communication Tips from Persons Living with Alzheimer's and dementia, http://j.mp/1S0CxGn « Alzheimer's Reading Room

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

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Caregiving and Hospice, March 6 - March 12

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Study: Hospice care benefits survivors too, http://bit.ly/g3n3ud via @DrDignity @hospice_news

• Volunteers make sure no one is alone at the end of life, http://bit.ly/gK4ePD via @annbilott @hospicepharmacy

• New guide dog leads both man and previous, now-blind guide dog, http://ow.ly/4c0VP via @amcny @PetDecisions

• End of Life Resource Centre: a valuable online resource, http://bit.ly/11Rtya via @jlunney_mp

• Wonderful video on value of pets when loved one is on hospice, http://ow.ly/4bJt8 via @petpeaceofmind

Caregiving and Hospice, October 10 - October 16

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Meredith Vieira: Lots of pain behind her sunny smile | StyleList, http://bit.ly/9XY3aI

• How to care for parents from a distance, http://bit.ly/bTRfrg

• Great read for caregivers,10 Commandments of Caregiving, via @StaciWitten

• 11-Year-Old Billy Ma Gets to Know His New Service Dog (Part 2) Paw Nation, http://bit.ly/cjPlQ8

• Everyone’s in denial that our mother is dying -- including her! http://bit.ly/aqz7j3 via @Caring

• Aging's Challenges Amplified for Gays and Lesbians, NYTimes.com http://nyti.ms/a5wCI7

• Aging & End-of-Life Challenges in the LGBT Community, with Fact Sheet, http://bit.ly/apHMxT via @hfahospice

• New Showtime Series: The Big C, http://bit.ly/chx0Ax via Pallimed

• Hospice of the Valley opens in Pinal County, http://bit.ly/aXnXbX

• Caregivers: This caregiving resource center has all the information you need, http://ow.ly/2RKcT via @aarp

• New Tool for Delivering Culturally-Competent Geriatric Care, http://bit.ly/8YTZrM via @GeriPalBlog

• New Improved Elder Care Locator, http://ht.ly/2RGpf via @LittmanKrooks @nytimes

• Palliative Care Law: Humane Treatment and Good Medicine, http://huff.to/9ceXJH

• 10 ways you can help a depressed person, http://bit.ly/cydhWu via @EmotionalLife @psychcentral 

• What Would You Do If You Did Not Fear Death? by Alison Rose Levy, http://huff.to/aaxc6H

• Gail Sheehy: "Passages in Caregiving" (Rebroadcast), http://bit.ly/cIZ3yI via @drshow

Caregiving and Hospice, August 22 - August 28

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Hospice of Michigan launches 52-week radio hospice awareness campaign, http://bit.ly/9KB4M9 via @larryberesford

• Length of Stay in Nursing Homes at End of Life: Implications for Palliative Care, http://bit.ly/caseZx via GeriPal

• Tender Care Beds: Making Hospital Beds Beautiful, http://bit.ly/a6SVmK 

• VideoCaregiving.org - A visual education center for family caregivers, http://bit.ly/x5w2q via @Florence247

• A family’s caregiving story: Lessons in Loving Dad and Mom, http://bit.ly/9xs2Fw via @AARPVIVA 

• End of Life Care: Some interventions can extend life, reduce suffering and save money, http://huff.to/9WiZsG 

• Early Diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease: Idea Not Ready for Prime Time, http://bit.ly/bqPN0G via GeriPal

• Hospice Nurse Made A Difference In Tallapoosa County http://bit.ly/cxItts

• Effective care for elderly chronically ill: MD calls for more research, http://bit.ly/bvwGb5

• Powerful video: What would you do if you were the adult child? http://bit.ly/cmjcxm via @ElderCareRN

• Service dog helps Oxnard woman with her epilepsy and therapy practice, http://bit.ly/bdtsjb

• Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's, to be released on October 15, http://bit.ly/aanxzc via @mariashriver

• About the need for touch in an isolating society, http://bit.ly/dm4B4K via @ElderCareRN

• New Studies in Palliative Care | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR, http://bit.ly/aXaIvc

• Frank Talk About Care at Life’s End, by Jane Brody in NYT, http://nyti.ms/cIogen via @NHPCO_news

• Building a Community August Newsletter http://conta.cc/aIi3QI via @StoryForHealing

• Holistic psychiatrist opines On Maslow and Medicine, http://bit.ly/6NDck2 via @doclake @holisticmd

• Gaining Senior Independence: 10 Tools That Will Help, http://ow.ly/2sZCW via @CareLab @CaregiverTweets 

• Virtual Senior Center Enhances Lives of Homebound Seniors, http://tinyurl.com/3y3gmk9 via @CareLab

• Great caregiving article on devices to help people with disabilities to cook and eat, http://bit.ly/c05f5g via @CareLab 

• Kitten therapy, via Veterinary Wisdom® Café, http://bit.ly/ay4WSV

• Boston Globe picks up on NEJM article on palliative care, http://bit.ly/duhNns via @NHPCO_news