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12 Questions About Hospice

Here is an excellent and informational video regarding hospice. It discusses the 12 most frequently asked questions regarding hospice and hospice care. Click on the link listed below. On the right hand side of the page click on “12 Questions About Hospice”.

Webpage: http://www.grievingcenter.org/forum/

A Guide to Grief

Everyone grieves, mourns, and copes with end of life issues in various ways. The terms grief, bereavement, and mourning are often used in place of each other, but they have different meanings.

Grief is the common process of dealing with a loss.

Bereavement is the period after a loss during which grief is experienced and mourning occurs. The time spent in a period of bereavement depends on how attached the person was to the person who died, and how much time was spent anticipating the loss.

Mourning is the process by which people adapt to a loss. Mourning is also influenced by cultural customs, rituals, and society’s rules for coping with loss.

Phases of Grief

The process of bereavement may be described as having four phases:

1. Shock and numbness: Family members find it difficult to believe the death; they feel stunned and numb.

2. Yearning and searching: Survivors experience separation anxiety and cannot accept the reality of the loss. They try to find and bring back the lost person and feel ongoing frustration and disappointment when this is not possible.

3. Disorganization and despair: Family members feel depressed and find it difficult to plan for the future. They are easily distracted and have difficulty concentrating and focusing.

4. Reorganization.

The goals of grief counseling include:

* Helping the bereaved to accept the loss by helping him or her to talk about the loss.

* Helping the bereaved to identify and express feelings related to the loss (for example, anger, guilt, anxiety, helplessness, and sadness).

* Helping the bereaved to live without the person who died and to make decisions alone.

* Helping the bereaved to separate emotionally from the person who died and to begin new relationships.

* Providing support and time to focus on grieving at important times such as birthdays and anniversaries.

* Describing normal grieving and the differences in grieving among individuals.

* Providing continuous support.

* Helping the bereaved to understand his or her methods of coping.

* Identifying coping problems the bereaved may have and making recommendations for professional grief therapy.

Reference:
Hospice. (2011). A guide to grief bereavement, mourning, and grief. Retrieved from http://www.hospicenet.org/index.html.

Hospice and Music Therapy

In working with hospice patients, I have had several patients pick one hospice versus another based on what they have to offer. One of the benefits of some Hospice’s is music therapy. This is new to me, so I thought it may be new to many of you also. Music therapists have become an important party of some hospice teams. Music Therapy is the “use of live music by professionally trained, board certified music therapists (MT_BC) in their care for people living with advanced illnesses” (Blue Ridge Hospice, 2011). Research provides support for music therapy to increase quality of life, alleviate spiritual suffering, provide pain management, and promote relaxation in end-of-life care. Some hospices are using recorded music versus live music based on needs.

Some basic goals of Music Therapy include:

• Decrease Agitation
• Decrease Anxiety
• Compliment Pain Interventions
• Address Communication Needs
• Increase Quality of Life
• Facilitate Grieving
• Assist with Funeral Planning
• Improve Coping with Changes
• Decrease Nausea/Vomiting
• Address Depression
• Decrease Shortness of Breath
• Decrease Isolation/Loneliness
• Address Spiritual Needs

Below is a YouTube video that provides a great overview of Music Therapy. This is kind of a lengthy video, but it is extremely educational and informative. It discusses and reviews one hospice agency’s music therapy program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYxSEezVeA&feature=youtu.be


Reference:
Blue Ridge Hospice. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.blueridgehospice.org/music_therapy.html.

Palliative Care

The goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of a person’s life by relieving suffering. Palliative care “is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness, no matter what the diagnosis or prognosis is. (Palliative Care, 2011)


Is Palliative Care Right For You?
The link below will take you to a quiz that helps you answer the question “is palliative care right for you”? It is a short quiz that consists of four questions.
http://www.getpalliativecare.org/rightforyou

Here is a brief YouTube video regarding palliative care. It discusses palliative care, and the importance of getting palliative care involved early with a plan of care. This video shows a patient who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It also discusses the difference between palliative care and hospice care.
http://www.getpalliativecare.org/videos/XHtHXGhTIC4
Reference:
What is Palliative Care. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.getpalliativecare.org/.

Palliative Care Resources

Please view the following link for a wide variety of Palliative Care resources:
http://www.getpalliativecare.org/resources

Caregivers

Being a caregiver can be a challenging, stressful, but yet an important job. Whether you care caring for a patient, family member, or friend, there are some important things to think about during the end of life. For a patient who is still able to be involved in end of life decisions and cares, it is extremely important to allow them to do so. For the persons who are not able to be involved it is important to help family members through this process.

Here are six steps you can take to be an effective caregiver:

• Work and communicate effectively with the patient.
• Support the patient’s spiritual concerns.
• Help to resolve the patient’s unfinished business.
• Work with health professionals.
• Work with family and friends.
• Take care of your own needs and feelings.
(American College of Physicians, 2011)

Every situation is different. In some situations the patient is taken care of at the end of life by a healthcare professional, sometimes a family member, and sometimes a friend. There are different things to think about when these different types of caregivers are caring for a patient during the end of life.

Here is some information to keep in mind when working with healthcare professionals at the time of end of life:

• Be clear about your wants and needs. Make sure all your questions get answered.
• Make sure you have all the information available that the healthcare professional may need. Some of this information may include personal information (birth date, social security number, and ect.), living will, advance directives, contact information, emergency contact information, your goals, concerns, questions, wants and needs.
Here is some information to keep in mind for family members and friends who are caring for family members at the end of life:
• This can be a very stressful and tiring process, so always ask for help!
• Take care of yourself also.
• Know it is okay to feel overwhelmed.
• Discuss and learn about the grief process at the end of life, which may include all or some of the following: anger, guilt, and fear.
• Know the patient’s wishes.

Reference:
The American College of Physicians. (2011). Hospice. Retrived from http://hospicenet.org/html/supportive_how.html.