Hospice Quinte: Changing Lives Podcast

When someone close to you loses a loved one, it can be hard to know how best to support them as they grieve. You know they are dealing with a wide variety of issues from the practical, such as closing bank accounts, to the less tangible as they face questions surrounding how they will cope with the “new normal” of life without their loved one. If you know someone who is grieving, how do you help t...

Please note that some of the information in this podcast may be out of date. For the most up to date information on Hospice Quinte, please visit our website at HospiceQuinte.ca Caregivers are individuals who provide ongoing care and assistance, without pay, to family members and friends who need support due to physical, cognitive or mental health conditions. Many caregivers don’t self-identify as...

Dealing with the grief caused by the death of a loved one can be challenging at any time of year, and at many special occasions. While others are celebrating, you are still mourning, and it is often difficult to reconcile those emotions. If it’s a wedding, you are there to celebrate a new beginning, while you are still thinking about someone you have lost. No one hands you a Wedding Guide for Grie...

 Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hospice Quinte.  Each episode we have important and worthwhile conversations about hospice palliative care and end of life issues.  Your host, Jennifer May-Anderson, tackles the tough issues with tenderness and the difficult discussions with dignity. This episode Jennifer interviews Siobhan McArdle,  Education and Support Coordinator at the Alzheimer's Society...

It is always difficult to deal with the death of a close family member on significant occasions. The death of an important person leaves that picture incomplete, and it is always more noticeable when the day is supposed to be about the person you have lost. Learn how to provide support to grieving kids on Father's Day in this week's Changing Lives Podcast. About Hospice Quinte Hospice Qu...

Comfort care is an essential part of hospice palliative care. It’s a complimentary kind of care that helps or soothes a person who is dying. The goal of comfort care, is just that, is to prevent or relieve suffering as much as possible while respecting a dying individual’s wishes. Learn about comfort care during end of life in this week's Changing Lives Podcast. About Hospice Quinte Hospice Q...

Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz said it best – “there’s no place like home”.  For most of us, home is where we want to be. It’s where our creature comforts are, where we feel most content and happy, and it’s where our friends and family come to visit. It’s natural, then, that some individuals who are experiencing their end of life want to spend their last days and moments at home. Learn more about w...

Please note that some of the information in this podcast is out of date. For the most up to date information on Hospice Quinte, please visit our website at HospiceQuinte.ca Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hospice Quinte.  Each episode we have important and worthwhile conversations about hospice palliative care and end of life issues.  Your host, Jennifer May-Anderson, tackles the tough issues with...

There are many ways that a family or an individual can be faced with an “end-of-life diagnosis”. We commonly think of Cancer, Heart Disease and other conditions or diseases that show obvious physical symptoms, and can progress quite rapidly in some cases. People with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia don’t immediately fit the same mold, and that can make it harder to acknowledge and meet the...

Have you ever wondered what to say to a friend or family member who has just experienced a significant loss? In the moment, it can be difficult to find the right words to express your condolences. But the fact remains that you should still say something to express your sympathy and show your support. Learn some tips on what to say when giving your condolences in this week's Changing Lives Pod...

This year, May 5th to the 11th marks the nineteenth annual Hospice Palliative Care Week – our time to celebrate and share achievements of hospice palliative care throughout the nation, while also shedding some light on areas needing improvement. Check out this week's Changing Lives Podcast to learn more about Hospice Palliative Care Week and this year's theme "Busting the Myths&quot...

Death has become a very difficult subject for many to discuss in modern society. It’s a part of every person’s life, and yet we don’t receive much education in that area, and many people find it challenging to even find someone to talk to about it, when the time comes. If you are a caregiver for someone who is dying, it can be even more emotionally draining. Being confronted with the death of a lo...

When someone you love has died, it raises all kinds of issues and questions that can be difficult to process. After the initial period of shock there is often a period of strong and conflicting emotional responses which include anger, sadness, guilt, denial and depression. At first, there are usually people around you to help you with the first few steps on this new journey. The obvious and pressi...

April 16th is National Advance Care Planning Day, a day to promote conversations about your wishes and values for your future health care. When it comes to planning for your future health care, are you and your loved ones prepared? If you were incapable to speak for yourself, would they know your wishes? The theme for this year’s National Advance Care Planning Day campaign is around making sure th...

Grief can come from many sources, and not all of them are either obvious, or predicable. While many families suffer as they deal with health issues and stress related to cancer, heart disease or dementia, others have no time to consider how their lives may be about to change. Every day, people die from accidents, collisions, violent criminal actions, unforeseen medical issues, or suicide. In these...

In the digital age, the world seems in many ways to be smaller than ever before. We are constantly bombarded by images and sounds of tragedies from our own backyard, across the province, in other parts of Canada, south of the border in the U.S., and in distant nations around the globe. The ongoing 24 hour news cycle is constantly churning out new and more graphic material every hour of every day,...

Please note that some of the information in this podcast is out of date. For the most up to date information on Hospice Quinte, please visit our website at HospiceQuinte.ca Many people think only seniors are served by Hospice Quinte. That’s not true – only 52% of our clients are over the age of 65. Almost 40% of our clients are between the ages of 18 and 65. Unfortunately, life limiting illness ca...

When someone dies, their loved ones are left to deal with a seemingly endless series of arrangements and events. Services and memorials take centre stage in the first few days and weeks, but they are just the first of many steps to putting someone’s “house in order”. That phase can seem overwhelming in and of itself, especially if you have never had to orchestrate a public event, post notices, and...

Hospice palliative care isn’t something most people like to talk about – or may even know about. Hospice palliative care is made up of two parts – hospice care and palliative care. Palliative, or comfort, care is appropriate for people of any age and at any stage of a serious illness. Hospice care is generally for those who have twelve or fewer months to live and who are no longer receiving active...

The death of a family member or friend can be very difficult, and not just for the person who experienced that loss directly. Grief can take the form of shock, anger, sadness, depression and a wide range of other emotions.  Each person is different, and how they will deal with that grief is also very different, and may be difficult to understand for their other friends and family members from time...

Dealing with the loss of a loved one can be difficult for any person, and none of us can be fully prepared for the situation. The shock and sadness are often accompanied by a diverse and surprisingly broad range of emotions as we deal with friends, relatives, sometimes co-workers, and eventually our own feelings and the truth of what has happened and what it means for the future. In the short-term...

While it may be tempting to try to protect a child from death, we have to remember that it is a key fact of life that it will someday end.  One of the best ways to show a caring and measured approach to the subject of death is to involve the child in the funeral or memorial process.  This episode of the Changing Lives podcast provides tips and information for attending funerals and memorials with...

The loss of a loved one is difficult at any time of year. You are regularly confronted with the anxiety and confusion that can be caused by changes in your daily routine, your personal and family support systems, and the absence of a trusted person who shared in many of your special moments. In winter, that void can feel even larger as you deal with longer nights, reductions in both your social an...

When someone you love is dying, there are a million things that go through your mind on a day-to-day basis.  As a caregiver for that person, the list of tasks is long, and seemingly endless, and you never know when things may change in a sudden and meaningful way.  In the midst of all the medical appointments, physical work, and emotionally-demanding moments with family members, there never seems...

One of the most difficult things to deal with in the aftermath of a significant loss is the damage it does to your support system. The loved one who has died leaves behind many people, including you, who are dealing with their absence in several different and meaningful ways. Some people that you have known for years or even decades may become more distant, as they have difficulty dealing with you...