Healing Grief through the Gift of Volunteering

Depending upon where you are in your grief journey, at some point you may feel the need to channel your pain, as well as the time and energy once devoted to your relationship with your loved one, into something productive and meaningful ~ through the gift of volunteering. As one who truly understands the grieving process, you may feel ready to reach out to others who are suffering the pain of loss. Now that you’ve found your own way through so many challenges of grief, you have a great deal to share with others who are suffering: you can identify with their struggles, empathize with their sorrows and doubts, and offer valuable information and support. Read on here >>>

Caregiving and Hospice, November 14 - November 20

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

• Sunday's USA Weekend Health Smart column features hospice and palliative care, http://bit.ly/dst8Ug 

• Great personal insights from a physician on end-of-life care, http://bit.ly/c8tuvF #hpm via @RedefineHospice 

• What Do Hospice Social Workers Do? by HFA's Karyn Walsh, http://bit.ly/awSpvR

• Hospice: death as part of life, http://bit.ly/bCSHSG via @hospicepharmacy

• Outstanding resource! http://eepurl.com/bC_Fv @VirtualHospice

• End-of-Life cancer care varies greatly in US, http://bit.ly/dpk47j

• Holidaze! Ten things you can do to reduce holiday stress, http://bit.ly/aPbPE7 via @caregiverblog

• Music Therapy: the power of a song at the end of life, http://bit.ly/bdM5UT via @Rachelle881

• More patients would choose hospice if they understood illness, http://ow.ly/3aSBW via @DianeEMeier @Life_Quality @renee_berry

• Animal-assisted therapy: Working with a hospice therapy dog, http://bit.ly/bIkfzj

• Honor a caregiver this month! http://bit.ly/bQBI5y via @ShelleyWebbRN

• Celebrate Caregivers of All Types this November, http://ow.ly/39Gon via @eldercarelink1

• Author interview: Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Needs and Communications of the Dying, http://ow.ly/39TDS via @ElinSilveous

• Hospice is for the family too! http://bit.ly/anT5CV

• Honoring caregivers during hospice month, http://on.fb.me/9Syyte via @SanDiegoHospice

• When Amputation Is Urged, an Agonizing Choice - Cases, http://nyti.ms/9Dk9aV via @caregiving

• On Home Aides and Hidden Grief, http://nyti.ms/d8P4on via @caregiving

• Holiday help for the caregiver, http://bit.ly/b8FRkD via @SFLTimes @SaludHEALTHinfo 

• Hospice care provides help during times of great need, http://bit.ly/dBkJhX via @hospice_news

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 14 - November 20

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

• Great collection of articles to help you navigate the holidays, http://bit.ly/3jkKKh

• Author poet Thomas Lynch: "Grief is the price we pay for being close to one another," http://nyti.ms/c2D6gj

• Widow and kids try gamely to celebrate dad's birthday, http://bit.ly/aabgSv

• Terrific Advice: How to Face Any Holiday as a Single Person, http://bit.ly/aHoAAx

• Men Coping With Grief, http://bit.ly/9ujEMa by @lindanedelstein via @DrMelanieG 

• Holidays! The Most Difficult Time of the Year, http://bit.ly/bvSsMx by @thegrieflady

• Holiday Journal Therapy: Grief Exercise #3, http://bit.ly/bX9mnL

• Outstanding resource! http://eepurl.com/bC_Fv @VirtualHospice 

• Dating Widowers with Children, http://bit.ly/bAdg8V by @abelkeogh 

• Webinar Monday November 22, "Handling the Holidays," http://bit.ly/dyuWA1 via @opentohope

• Hospice care includes grief support! Let's fill in this blank: "Grief support is..." via @AliveHospice 

• Grieving dog waits for person who will never come home, http://ow.ly/39FYN via @PetDecisions

• Dr Tom Attig describes Love and Separation, http://youtu.be/e9A0fkXvoOY?a via @opentohope 

• Stunning piece! Walking Away From Grief, http://nblo.gs/aAWQK via @KSBuckley 

• National suicide effort offers help for those left behind, http://shar.es/0N7Qp via @afspnational

• Widows experiencing loss ask WHY??? http://bit.ly/bCqoPs 

• Hospice is for the family too! http://bit.ly/anT5CV 

• Camp Erin on NBC's "Making a Difference" segment last week, http://on.msnbc.com/9wDqe5 via @moyerfoundation 

• Important article on children and grief in Boston Parents Paper, http://bit.ly/aEARYa via @NShoreHospice 

• Death at Birth: acknowledging this special parental grief, http://bit.ly/bITi8b via @Hospicecny 

• Dying is final, but passing on lives forever, http://goo.gl/fb/WBSTv via @kevinmd      

Coping with Pet Loss, November 14 - November 20

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

• YouTube Interview: Children and Pet Loss, http://bit.ly/cK93HN via @opentohope

• So sad! Beware of your dog eating grapes or raisins, http://usat.ly/9Qz106 via @CSUVetHospital

• Excellent Pet Loss Companioning Certification Program, February 7-10, 2011, Wolfelt Center For Loss, http://linkd.in/aHCgnp via @PetAshes

• Doctor….Do Dead Pets Watch Over Us? http://bit.ly/dCrmRJ by @WorldbytheTail 

• Love this idea! The Tree of Life: memorializing a lost pet, http://bit.ly/d1x9Pj by @WorldbytheTail  

Caregiving and Hospice, November 7 - November 13

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

• What to do when a loved one expresses a wish to die? http://nyti.ms/aaPWpy via NYTimes.com

• Sooner Or Later author interviewed about EOL care on WGN, http://bit.ly/98w8sc via @DrDignity

• Traveling With a Senior This Holiday Season? http://bit.ly/dqmiQ1 by @ShelleyWebbRN

• Facing terminal illnesses realistically, http://nblo.gs/at09N via @St_Patricks

• MUST watch Frontline documentary, "Facing Death" is online now. Also on PBS Nov 23, 9pm ET, http://to.pbs.org/d6KNvq via @ctsinclair

• Is There Life After Death? TIME, http://bit.ly/a6sH4

• On Veterans Day, may we all remember that freedom isn't free, http://bit.ly/a9zUZA

• The Heart of a Caregiver, http://bit.ly/9gH7KH by @LeezaGibbons

• Stories or Questions Heard Over and Over and Over Again? http://bit.ly/d1Cwbk « ElderCarelink blog

• Hospice launches DVD to help dispel care fears, http://bit.ly/cJTsDF via @hospicepharmacy

• Hospice Care Is Not the Same as Palliative Care, http://bit.ly/ckzPf4 by @angelamorrow

• Facing death can bring out the best in people, http://bit.ly/9oZFTV via @hospicepharmacy

• Hospice of the Valley's Susan Levine: Hospice care provides calm sense of dignity, http://bit.ly/cLqmJR via @hospicepharmacy

• Caregiving takes financial, as well as emotional, toll on families, http://bit.ly/bopOve via @Florence247

• New Facts and Figures on Hospice Care, http://bit.ly/9Yb26e via @NHPCO_news

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 7 - November 13

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

• Article in MORE MAGAZINE on grief and healing, http://bit.ly/cxgCur by @Joannefunch

• Self guided e-book writing program helps in grief, http://ow.ly/38Ywz via @StoryForHealing

• Navigating Loss: Dealing with the Pain and Letting Go, http://ow.ly/38vrx via @StoryForHealing

• Is There Life After Death? TIME, http://bit.ly/a6sH4

• We're all made of stardust! My Grandson The Rock via NPR, http://n.pr/cnUPDR

• Open to Hope Foundation > Daughter Feels Little Support for Mother Loss, http://bit.ly/cnnYIT

• Brian Vaszily: First Class Flyers Who Complain about Pretzels, http://bit.ly/d04vo3

• Surviving A Loss From Suicide, http://bit.ly/cerIoz via @afspnational

• Please visit us at Open to Hope's new website!  Same name, new content, and easy to navigate! http://bit.ly/97Gf4P via @opentohope

• I Will Never Be the Same After My Father's Death, http://bit.ly/9NrRP0 via @HelloGrief

• Can broken times help us grow? Great read by Elizabeth Lesser "Broken Open" http://bit.ly/bI5mhU via @Joannefunch

Coping with Pet Loss, November 7 - November 13

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

• Pet hospice guides owners through decisions, pain and medication management, http://bit.ly/9iXqWT via @suzanakm

To Honor Our Troops and Veterans on Veterans Day

Freedom Isn't Free

"To those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to those who risk their lives today so that we may continue to live in freedom . . ."

Hospice Foundation of America suggests ways to better support veterans in their journey through serious illness and death in Honoring Our Veterans.

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and Hospice Action Network President and CEO Don Schumacher writes about NHPCO and the Department of Veteran Affairs’ joint efforts to honor veterans: It’s Never too Late to Say ‘Thank You’ to Our Nation’s Veterans: Even at the End of Life

For information on helping returning soldiers — especially the National Guard and Reservists — reintegrate within their family, the workplace, and the community, see Honoring Soldiers When They Come Home.

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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© by Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, DCC

Hospice Care Provides Calm Sense of Dignity

The following message comes to us from Susan Levine, Executive Director of Hospice of the Valley in Phoenix, AZ:
 
"Whispering down the lane" is what Norm called it.

Rather than pursue aggressive treatment for incurable cancer, he called Hospice of the Valley to see him through life's final passage. An erudite man, Norm wanted time to prepare himself and his family for the transition, time to read books like "History of Western Civilization" and time to sit outside on his patio and listen to the birds sing.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, he'd get home visits from a doctor, nurse, nurse's aide, social worker and a chaplain - all members of his hospice team. What he told one would be relayed to the next team member, who would relay it to the next, and so on.

Norm got a kick out of knowing that all these people were talking about him in absentia, following up on what he'd told the previous visitor. Sometimes, the topic was the fall of the Roman Empire. Sometimes, it was constipation.

That's what hospice is about: a caring team of professionals that walks by the side of patients and families during life's final chapter. Conversations about the meaning of life are every bit as important as conversations about pain medication.

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. It's a time to take stock of our own lives, to think about how we're making every day count. Are we devoting our energies to worthwhile endeavors? Are we tending to our relationships? Are we enjoying ourselves?

Hospice and palliative care allow people to continue living their lives to the fullest until the very last moment. When patients are first admitted, we ask: Is there anything you would like to do? Any people you would like to see?

One patient wanted to resume his career as an Elvis impersonator and sing to people at senior centers and nursing homes; one time he serenaded a fellow hospice patient all the way to Graceland. Another patient wanted to fly an airplane again, and we made the arrangements. A husband and wife wanted a romantic dinner at home to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary; the nurse and social worker catered a candlelight meal. A state prisoner wanted to say goodbye to his estranged mother - she came to his bedside, and they made their peace.

We tell our patients: Hospice care is about quality of life.

Carpe diem.

Susan Levine is executive director of Hospice of the Valley, a not-for-profit hospice serving the community since 1977. For more information, go to hov.org.

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 31 - November 6

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

• A Tale of Imperfectly Perfect Grief,  http://bit.ly/d5OSSA by @unxpctdblessing via @AccustomedChaos

• Articles on Coping with The Holidays, http://bit.ly/3jkKKh

• Journal therapy grief exercises, http://bit.ly/asdLSX via @CreateWriteNOW 

• In the end, an ugly death should not overshadow a beautiful life, http://bit.ly/aImact via @HelloGrief

• Readers' Choice: Grief Bibliography, http://bit.ly/aB2gEp

• Autumn Grief Song and Message from grief counselor Marty Tousley, http://ht.ly/34JxG via @Selfhealingexpr

• Tips for Coping with Sleeplessness in Grief, http://bit.ly/hkoXnZ

• In a new relationship? How to deal with late spouse's family, http://bit.ly/9QbymE by @abelkeogh

• Sharing our loss makes grief visible, http://bit.ly/cjVGuG