Medicare to Launch New Caregiver Website
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
. . . white students attending more racially diverse medical schools rated themselves as better prepared than students at less diverse schools to care for racial and ethnic minority patients and had stronger attitudes about inadequate access to health care. . . . The associations of student body diversity appeared to be mediated by more positive interaction and perspective sharing among individuals from different backgrounds within medical schools. The association of student body diversity with white students' self-rated cultural competence was only observed when students perceived a more positive climate for interracial interaction and exchange of diverse perspectives.
They found that Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to have an advance directive than white patients (and in this case much less likely: 80% vs 50%), were more religious, and were more likely to endorse life-prolonging treatment wishes even if had only a few days to live. Dishearteningly, only 30% of patients had had any sort of discussion with their physicians regarding end of life care - this finding did not differ between groups. Fewer Black and Hispanic patients acknowledged they were terminally ill compared to white patients, however such acknowledgment was associated with increased advance care planning in all groups. The really interesting finding is that differences in advance care planning persisted even after adjusting for demographic factors (age, education level, etc.), terminal illness awareness, religiosity, and preference for life-prolonging therapy when dying. Suggesting, that is, that these differences are either deeply cultural (and thus not as impacted by demographics, illness understanding, etc.) and/or related to how/the frequency with which clinicians bring up advance care planning with patients from different ethnic groups.
And last, the Oregon Center for Applied Science (ORCAS) is conducting surveys for a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. It is seeking people who identify as a racial or ethnic minority to receive $275 for using a new Family Caregiving Support program and completing four online surveys.Eligible participants must:
* Care for an aging relative or friend with advanced illness or in need of assistance with daily tasks like bathing, eating, dressing, walking, etc.
* Have an email address and access to a computer with a high-speed Internet connection.
* Read and understand English.
Only one person per household may participate in this study.
Visit the survey site here.
Labels: caregiving, culture
Labels: caregiving
Falls among the elderly, a common source of injuries, have largely been considered inevitable. But a recent large-scale study shows that a combination of adjusting treatment, assessing risk and educating patients can substantially reduce serious falls.
The study, by Dr. Mary E. Tinetti and her colleagues at the Yale School of Medicine, compared two similar regions of Connecticut. For four years in the experimental region, the researchers asked clinicians to assess their patients’ risk of falls and to consider medication reduction and other prevention measures like strength training, vision adjustment and blood pressure treatment. The rate of serious falls by the elderly in that region was 11 percent less than that in the region that followed normal care.
That lower rate of falls translated to 1,800 fewer emergency visits by the elderly, the researchers said, saving more than $21 million in health care costs. The study was published July 17 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Not long ago, soon after we put our pet dog to sleep, I received a handwritten note from our veterinarian expressing her condolences. The letter was not brief — she described my children’s fondness for little Rudy and how caring they were as his condition worsened. It was thoughtful and personalized, not something she had simply dashed off.
In contrast, during my 25 years of caring for humans I have written only a handful of similar notes to families after a loved one’s death.
In an aging population, nine million people take care of someone with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and for many it is a responsibility without a break.
But as health professionals and the federal government have recognized the strain on these family members — including higher rates of depression, hypertension, diabetes, sleep disorder, heart disease and death — a growing number of facilities now offer short-term respite stays. In its simplest form, respite might be a home aide a few hours a week or use of an adult day care service. To caregivers at the end of their rope, real respite means a short time away — what for anyone else would be called a vacation.
Most caregivers do not take respite vacations because they see them as an admission of failure, or they worry that something will happen while they are away. A paradox of caring for an elderly relative is that the burden is so big, many feel they cannot share it.
Every caregiver should know the key points:
1. Respite can save your health and your marriage.
2. Overnight options include in-home care and short-stay arrangements in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and "camps," such as one run by the Family Caregiver Alliance.
3. Using vacation respite isn't bad for the loved one with dementia.
4. Taking a vacation isn't a sign that you're a lousy caregiver.
That last point probably belongs first, and in all caps. There's such a pervasive misconception, deep in the psyche, that it isn't "right" to leave a loved one who needs care while you go off on holiday. "Most caregivers do not take respite vacations because they see them as an admission of failure or they worry something will happen while they are away," says the Times piece.
Labels: aging, caregiving, grief
"People don't plan on becoming caregivers," said Dr. Sara Czaja, co-director of the center and principal investigator on the project. "It's something that just happens to them. It's not one size fits all. Culturally, we have different ideas about family, about caregiving - maybe technology can play a big role."
MAKING A CONNECTION
Part of the program involves connecting caregivers to others through video phones installed in their home. Through their video monitors, they can reach out to other caregivers, social workers or medical experts and watch pre-recorded videos about caregiving and Alzheimer's.
Labels: aging, caregiving, culture
Labels: aging, caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving
It’s Monday morning and I meet my new medical student, Nelson, on the hospice unit. I am there to sign a death certificate for a man who died the night before. Nelson is flipping through the patient’s chart, and he asks me, “What are we going to do for this patient today?”
I wonder if he’s kidding, and I say: “Nothing. He’s dead.” Later, recalling this conversation, I still cannot believe I said it so matter-of-factly.
Nelson is still holding the chart and I think I see his hands shake.
“Hey, are you O.K.?” I ask. “You do know what you signed up for, don’t you? It is a palliative-care and hospice elective. People are going to die every day.”
“I know, I know,” he says. “I’ve just never been near anyone who has died before.” Then he says, “Wow, it’s really a big deal.” And he sits down — because he needs to, I think; he needs to respect the moment.
In this moment I learn something from Nelson, a lesson I thought I already knew. I learn to slow down, to feel the gravity of the moment, the power of time and the depth of this important work. Nelson is right. It is a big deal.
In the 1920s, Anton Boisen, a pioneer in hospital chaplaincy and CPE [clinical pastoral education] , was the first to coin the term living human document in reference to the understanding of a patient’s theological needs. The living human document has since evolved to become a catch-all term in regards to understanding the theological, psychological and social needs of patients.
. . .
Our ability to apply this knowledge in health care, however, is largely dependent on our ability to get to the heart of an individual’s story. While CPE students are already engaged in this discussion as part of their training, we need to engage all members of the health care team in this dialogue because there are lessons in the living human document that can improve the delivery of quality, compassionate care.
Dr. David Goodman, a co-author of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which has studied the last two years of life, said there is much research suggesting that most aggressive treatment of late-stage chronic diseases does not actually prolong life and can actually decrease its quality. Of Mrs. Homer, Dr. Goodman said, “the odds are that she’s really an amazing exception.”
“The question is not a relatively healthy, smart, sensible 99-year-old getting a life-prolonging procedure, one that prolongs the quality of life,” Dr. Goodman added. “The question becomes the 82-year-old with dementia who has cancer or congestive heart failure.”
. . .
But Dr. Tom Perls, founding director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University Medical Center, said that people who reach 100 “have demonstrated a survival prowess.”
“It’s much more the case of the older you get, the healthier you’ve been,” Dr. Perls said. “In my experience, when they’re completely cognitively intact, you cannot in any way or form predict their mortality.”
Labels: caregiving, end-of-life
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Catherine Wilson sits down to work as a bookkeeper every night at 9, after her 80-year-old mother has settled into bed. She does her grocery shopping after midnight, no longer surprised to see others in the aisles at 2 a.m.
A 50-year-old mother of two teenagers, Wilson says she can instantly spot her fellow "caregivers," as they are known in the social-service pamphlets. They are struggling to meet the needs of an elder at home - medical appointments, prescriptions, and mental confusion, in her mother's case - while raising kids and trying to hold down a job.
"I've had unbelievable conversations in supermarkets," she said. "We have children, we have households, we have work responsibilities. We're still paying mortgages, and we're faced with a situation where we have to quit work."
Labels: aging, caregiving
Even Leslie Clement, Idaho's Medicaid Administrator, admitted that Idaho isn't usually regarded as a hotbed of social innovation, but the AARP was impressed enough with the state's achievements on keeping people out of nursing homes to make Clement one of the featured speakers at a recent luncheon and discussion on long-term care entitled "A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform." With good reason.
Most of us don't' want to end up in nursing homes. Too often, we don't have an alternative. Many states, Idaho among them, have been exploring ways to provide more home and community-based care. It's cheaper. And people prefer it.
Labels: aging, caregiving
Finding the right Assisted Living Community presents a complicated task because of all these dynamics. In addition, another type of assisted living is called "continuing care" and available at Continuing Care Retirement Communities. These communities usually require a large initial deposit (some seniors sell their home and use the proceeds to pay for this deposit) but guarantee the senior will be able to remain in the community as their care needs may change. Usually condos or townhouses, apartments and nursing centers are all located on the campus and the senior may move between them, as needed.
Labels: aging, caregiving
I hadn't been pregnant in 20 years, but this was planned just as my previous pregnancies had been. For no logical reason, I woke up one day and knew that it was correct; my entire being knew it was precisely the right time. Of course, the clarity was subtly infiltrated with uncertainties and fears as soon as the decision was made.
When I woke up that morning a little more than a year ago, I knew it was time to ask my parents to move closer to me. By closer, I mean 1,300 miles closer—all the way from suburban Philadelphia to Lincoln, Neb. The logistics, both geographically and culturally, were overwhelming. The distance between the East Coast and the Midwest had never seemed so vast.
Labels: aging, caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving
The title of classical guitarist Marcia Feldman's new CD, released June 17, is "Between the Worlds." Perhaps no idea could better sum up the unique realm that Feldman's music inhabits. She is a hospice musician - a performer who plays tunes to soothe the dying. The worlds she refers to in the CD's title are those of life and death, and her music is designed specifically to ease the transition from one to the other.
It's an unusual niche, to be sure, but one in which the Dedham resident has long felt comfortable. Trained in classical guitar and jazz vocals at Berklee College of Music, Feldman first began thinking about the connection between death and music when she lost her father 20 years ago. "His situation did not involve hospice care; he died suddenly," she said. "But something about the process of grieving for him made me think increasingly about the role music plays at our most troubling times."
After discussing Craig’s report, Dr. F. gently began asking Craig questions about his quality of life, including how he feels compared to six weeks ago; if he’s happy with the chemo results thus far; and if he feels satisfied with his quality of life. He asked these calmly, and in a way that shaded his own opinion from that of Craig’s. Craig answered every question, with each response growing labored from sheer exhaustion. He said that he felt more tired than six weeks ago, when he felt he was more on the mend. He seems most distressed about his fatigue, which has prevented him from doing the things he loves, like reading, writing, and playing music. He said he can muster energy to do short activities, but even those are difficult; talking has become another short activity. Still, he feels he’s satisfied with his life (so far) and would like to continue. If I know my brother, he won’t be the one to say stop.
It broke my heart to hear him speak about his life, a life that was so vibrant and so full of promise just six months earlier. That he’s had to discuss his own treatment, and consider his own mortality less than one week after burying Mom seems particularly cruel. But there’s never a good time for such a discussion, and Dr. F. did it perfectly. He ended the discussion by saying that if C were to say that he no longer wanted to continue with the medicine, he would view it as a reasonable statement. He also added that he sees a lot of cancer patients, and that C seems to be fighting hard to be where he is. He noted that he had hoped C would be in a better position symptomatically, and though there’s still a chance he may turn the corner, Sorafenib hasn’t really helped C in terms of enhancing his energy.
Labels: aging, caregiving, disease and disability, hospice and palliative care
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: caregiving
Pallimed: What are the important lessons learned from the flooding to share with other hospice agencies as they look at their own disaster planning?
Dr. Wensel: The greatest lesson learned is to plan for the worse case scenario. As a hospice think about if you lost half your staff, some of your patients had to be evacuated, and you had no safe water. You can never plan for every possible problem that might come up, but it would be very helpful to talk through different disaster plans with your staff. You never realize how wonderful it is to wash your hands, brush your teeth or take a bath until you can't. I had never thought about all the things we do to care for patents that require water.
Labels: caregiving, hospice and palliative care, providers
Labels: caregiving

Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving, end-of-life, grief, providers
Labels: caregiving
"We found that caregivers reported that their loved one's symptoms were poorly controlled and that the quality of the dying and death process was worse than that of other populations. In addition, family members who perceived that their loved one had either a lower quality of dying and death or poorly controlled pain symptoms, were more likely to have symptoms consistent with PTSD. . ."
. . .
The study demonstrates that there is an urgent need for significant improvement in areas such as symptom management. Dr. Gries believes that having trained counselors to help family members with emotional needs, as well as financial issues, could reduce the stress on caregivers. "We hope that our findings will increase awareness among clinicians that caregivers experience a significant burden of symptoms and may need additional support," she concluded.
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
To those of us helping our loved one through difficult times, a caregiver is someone you hire to help if don’t have the time or skills to care for your loved one. I remember early on my aunt said, “have you seen or read the caregiver book I got during Bill’s illness?” Why would I need to read such a book, I was her niece helping her because I had the time and I loved her. I was not her caregiver. It really did not hit me until about 6 months in that I realized, but never verbalized, that I was her primary caregiver.
When the medical home was first conceived by pediatricians about four decades ago, doctors thought it would most help patients with complex or chronic problems. Tests in several practices nationwide found that these patients treated in medical homes more often got needed care promptly, hospitalization rates dropped and patient satisfaction rose.
Still, the concept didn't gain much traction until the last four years, when organizations representing 333,000 doctors, including many of the nation's primary care physicians, endorsed the medical home for all patients.
Labels: caregiving, grief, providers
Labels: caregiving, children
How is it that the one event we know with absolute certainty will occur is still one we improvise? Do we lower our voices, dress in black, save a lock of hair as the Victorians did and wove into jewelry? Do you let young children see a corpse--the very word suddenly cold and empty because his flesh and blood no longer matter, his meaning filling the space once his presence is gone? "Is that Grandpa?" our 4-year-old wondered. "No, honey," my husband told her. "He's not here anymore. That's just his body." She worked at this, how the arms that held her and the lap she sat in were no longer him. "You know how when we go to Florida, we leave our winter coats at home because we won't need them there? Well, he just left this behind because he doesn't need it anymore." And this appeared to make perfect sense to her, and she went to play, full of love and certainty, and we all took a walk in the watery light of late afternoon.
I spent Wednesday morning at a hospice on the south side of the Clyde.
It may not be how most people would react, but afterwards, standing outside, I turned to my VS tutor and said, “This is going to sound weird, but it seemed like a really happy place.”
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability, hospice and palliative care
Labels: caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving, disease and disability
Labels: caregiving, end-of-life, providers
Scott is a full grown man, and he doesn’t have the strength to help when he needs to be transfered from his wheelchair to the bed, or the tub, or his easy chair my dad set up to help his legs rest. And my dad turns 65 this year.
Dad has always been a big bear of a man, but he wont be able to lift Scott forever. . . Even though he needs professional semi-skilled care . . .we might could come up with some arrangement where my brother could be cared for in our homes.
But my parents are stubborn people, and it may sound funny coming from a 43 year old, but I don’t want to disobey them. I think that deep down, all of us, parents and children, know that a day is coming when the two able-bodied sons are going to have to sit down with the parents and say, “No disrespect, but you’re going to have to let it go and let us take over”. But for now, we have instead, this uneasy silence where we sons know what we have to say, but we don’t say it.
I think it’s going to take Scott telling them to let the brothers take over. Ironically, they’ll listen to him.
Of all her 11 siblings, my mother was the only one who was in institutional care at the end of her life. This is something I still have not entirely reconciled. This in one of those it's not the right thing to do--not the right way to treat your elders values I hold. But it was the only practical thing to do. . .
. . .If I had been truely a Sandwich Generation participant...if I had had to care for her long distance, AND take care of an infant, go to grad school--commuting an hour or more each way, and teach parttime, do my share of the domestic chores, maintain some sort of marital and social life, I think, NO I know, I would have had not only a nervous breakdown but a physical one as well. . .
. . .More than a decade later, I still miss her daily. Her last days at The Oaks were as good as they could be. She, my model joyolgist, told me scatological nursing home jokes to lighten my heart. But I--I still don't feel right about how her last days ended. My Mom, however, would say differently to me. As is on her gravestone, she would say to me, "Do your best, honey."
Did I? Yes--given the circumstances. I guess that's all we can do in the long run.
Labels: aging, caregiving, disease and disability
As a caregiver, if you wonder when or whether your caregiving might be “too” caregiving, there’s a simple way to find out. Ask the person for whom you care if you’re doing too much.
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
Among children, ages 8-21, who are involved in caregiving, many are reported as taking on significant tasks:
- About one-third of young adults (ages 18-21) assist with doctors’ appointments;
- 42% of young adults assist with transporting loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease;
- About one-quarter of young adults and teens (ages 13-17) assist with activities of daily living, such as feeding and dressing;
- Nearly 90% of pre-teens (ages 8-12) visit and entertain a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease (please use caution when interpreting results due to small base size)
- Approximately 85% of teens pay visits to the person with the disease.
“Taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s disease can be an enormous drain on the caregiver and on family resources. For sandwich caregivers the problem is even more acute. It is clear that caregiving is a multigenerational concern. Young adults and even teens and pre-teens are being impacted in life changing ways by their caregiving responsibilities,” said Eric J. Hall, AFA’s president and chief executive officer.
Labels: caregiving, children, disease and disability
As the population ages, many adult children are grappling with an unprecedented social, cultural, economic, and personal revolution as they transition into the primary caregiver role for their aging parents. Produced, written, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk, Caring for Your Parents is a moving two-hour special that draws much-needed attention to this universal reality.
The first 90-minutes of Caring for Your Parents underscores today's struggle to keep parents at home, tensions between siblings, and the complexity of shifting caregiver roles through an intimate look at five American families. In the end, the documentary contends successful caregiving requires one primary ingredient‒love.
Immediately after the 90-minute broadcast, medical correspondent Dr. Art Ulene leads "A Conversation About Caring." This half-hour panel discussion offers concrete advice and guidance on how to start the conversation‒often the most difficult step in caregiving.
Caring for Your Parents is a Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. Production for WGBH Boston. The executive producer is Laurie Donnelly. Major funding is provided by Harrah's Foundation. Additional funding by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
Labels: aging, caregiving
If you’re the primary caregiver, you may feel resentment toward your “free” sibling who works, goes to movies, take vacations.
If you’re the “other” sibling, you feel guilty. You don’t know where you fit in. You’re uncomfortable speaking up and voicing your opinion because after all, you’re not the one doing all the work–and you’re reminded of that often.
If you’re the third sibling, well, you might as well be in the outer Netherlands. That’s might be how it feels. All those childhood birth order issues get kicked right back up.
In some respects, living far away is easier because Mattone doesn’t have to witness the changes in her parents — her father is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and her mother has cancer — yet the distance often leaves her feeling guilty and helpless.
“I feel like I’d like to be able to do more, like I’m a little bit of a disappointment because I can’t be there,” she said.
Living far away from an aging parent — especially one who is injured or sick — can be an emotional rollercoaster for an adult child, who must cope with worry, frustration and feelings of inadequacy. These feelings are compounded by the stress of caring for that person over hundreds or thousands of miles.
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Dr. Bert Hayslip of the University of North Texas Psychology Department and UNT student Shanna Davis are conducting a survey exploring the role of endurance as a resource among grandparents who are raising grandchildren on a full-time basis. The survey will ask questions about the grandparents, the caregiving situation and about the relationship to the grandchild. The survey takes about an hour to do and can be done at home.
To qualify for the project, grandparents must be primarily responsible for the full-time care of their grandchildren, who must be younger than 18 and residing with the grandparent.
Those interested can have the survey mailed to them. All information will be confidential. Each grandparent will be assigned a code number that will uniquely identify them only to Hayslip and Davis; no names will appear on the survey.
Also, grandparent caregivers are under no obligation to complete the survey even if they have begun the project. If desired, participants may receive results of the project when it is completed.
For more information, call 940-565-2675 or e-mail hayslipb@unt.edu
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: caregiving, providers
Labels: caregiving, grief
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
"As the population ages, many adult children are grappling with an unprecedented social, cultural, economic, and personal revolution as they transition into the primary caregiver role for their aging parents. Produced, written, and directed by award-winning filmmaker Michael Kirk, Caring for Your Parents is a moving two-hour special that draws much-needed attention to this universal reality."
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
"The prevalence of cognitive impairment in this age group went down by 3.5 percentage points between 1993 and 2002 -- from 12.2 percent to 8.7 percent, representing a difference of hundreds of thousands of people.""And while the reasons for this decline aren't yet fully known, the authors say today's older people are much likelier to have had more formal education, higher economic status, and better care for risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking that can jeopardize their brains."
"One thing these studies all seem to agree on is that people shouldn't quit learning. Exercising one's mind and caring for one's physical health seem to be key to remaining as healthy as possible, overall. Keeping an active mind and body are not guarantees that dementia will not strike. But keeping our minds active and our bodies as healthy as our genes will allow are somethings we can do that certainly will not cause harm, and doing these things can give us hope that we may remain dementia free, or at least put off the effects for a longer period of time. There will always be exceptions, but why not try?""The study is also realistic in noting that the sheer numbers of elders who are (and will be) living longer ensures that we will be fighting Alzheimer's and other dementia for years to come. Nothing is 'licked' yet. However, any good news on this front is welcome to we who are on the leading edge of baby boomers, and to our children."
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
Actavis Inc., the United States manufacturing and marketing division of the international generic pharmaceutical company Actavis Group, has announced that 14 lots of fentanyl transdermal system CII patches sold in the United States by Actavis' subsidiary Actavis South Atlantic LLC are being voluntarily recalled from wholesalers and pharmacies as a precaution. They include:
Actavis Fentanyl Transdermal System, 25 mcg/hr.
Actavis Fentanyl Transdermal System, 50 mcg/hr.
Actavis Fentanyl Transdermal System, 75 mcg/hr.
Actavis Fentanyl Transdermal System, 100 mcg/hr.
Anyone with Actavis Fentanyl transdermal system patches with the above listed lot numbers should call 877-422-7452.
For more detailed information, please visit the FDA Recall Notice.
Labels: caregiving, pain management
"On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, PriCara, the manufacturer of transdermal fentanyl (Duragesic®), announced that supply lots of their 25mcg/hr patches were recalled due to a flaw in the cut of one edge. To be aware that some patches may unintentionally expose patients directly to the medication gel (because the integrity of the barrier could be compromised), these lots as well as those manufactured by ALZA and sold by Sandoz have been voluntarily recalled to remove them from the market place. Other strength patches (12.5, 50, 75 and 100 mcg/hr) are not affected."
Labels: caregiving, pain management
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
"You, as the caregiver, put your hand over the hand of the person who has dementia and gently guide them to the activity at hand. If the task is walking, you would put your hand over their hand and slowly lead them down the hall, maybe clasping both your hands around their hand. If the task is stirring the cookie batter, you would put your hand over their hand and "show" them the motion used to stir and do it with them. You can use this strategy for helping people get in and out of chairs, brushing teeth, turning on televisions, combing their hair, you name it."
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
"To address this 'caregiving crisis,' all sectors of society must come together to develop solutions. A broad and coordinated response should address workforce development, community planning, and caregiver education and support, including regulatory and financing issues, more effective use of technology, and development and dissemination of evidence-based practices in caregiving. Building an infrastructure of supports for caregivers will improve caregiver effectiveness and reduce the harm, injury, and burden that can be associated with caregiving in isolation. Most importantly, I believe there must be a fundamental shift in how we value and support caregivers."
Labels: caregiving
“These findings contradict old myths about elderly gay people leading lonely lives of quiet desperation,” said Dr. Robert-Jay Green, executive director of the Rockway Institute, a national center for LGBT research and public policy. “LGB seniors create vibrant communities of care that overcome the difficulties posed by discrimination or by greater levels of rejection from their biological families.”
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
Labels: caregiving, disease and disability
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving, hospice and palliative care
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving, hospice and palliative care
Labels: caregiving, hospice and palliative care
Labels: caregiving
HFA's book, Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses, includes a chapter by Marcia Lattanzi-Licht, which addresses the partnership that is formed between a family and hospice personnel for terminally ill patients. An excerpt:
Hospice as a Model for Caregiving
The partnership formed between a family and hospice personnel can ensure quality care for a person who is dying. Hospice supportive services are designed to offer information and back-up to family members so that they will be more able to care for their loved one. Hospice care focuses on addressing some central goals:
These overall goals are the foundation for hospice and form the value base for its services and activities. When caregiving is offered in the context of these desirable approaches, the individual who is ill experiences an enhanced sense of security and worth. Caregiving that is grounded in a philosophy of caring that respects the wishes of the person who is ill and the family, and maximizes their functioning, represents the kind of support people appreciate most. While many are familiar with the principles of hospice, it is important to explore the application of these principles. The values of hospice represent universal approaches to caregiving and create a blueprint that advances the human experiences of caring.
by Marcia Lattanzi-Licht
© 2001 Hospice Foundation of America
See the Table of Contents from Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Repsonses.
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving, disease and disability, patient story
Labels: caregiving
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving, disease and disability
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving, end-of-life, hospice and palliative care, patient story
Labels: aging, caregiving
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving, children, disease and disability
Labels: caregiving, providers
Labels: caregiver story, caregiving
Labels: caregiving