The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Do you think your advance care plan is complete?  It’s way more than a one and done conversation!  Along with the big decisions like your health care proxy and resuscitation status, there are lots of details to communicate to your healthcare providers, your proxy, and your family.  It’s important to know what’s legally acceptable in the state or province where you live.  And what about the smaller...

When Sherrie Dunlevy experienced the death of her infant son, she learned the hardest lessons that grief can teach. As a best selling author, speaker, and coach , she now guides grieving women to live their best lives. Her book “How Can I Help?  Your Go-To Guide for Helping Loved Ones Through Life’s Difficulties” offers actionable solutions for being there with someone who’s had a loss, whether it...

Author Steve Litwer shares stories of his hospice volunteering as a bedside musician in his new book “The Music Between Us: Memoir of a Bedside Musician”. Serving others by playing his guitar helped him find healing and perspective for his own life.  His connections with his hospice patients motivated him to share their stories along with his own.  Steve’s love for music is woven through each chap...

End of life issues are complicated. Mediator and patient advocate Althea Halchuck of Ending Well Patient Advocacy talks with us about the challenges she sees people face.  According to her website , Althea has been advocating for the vulnerable and the dying for over 20 years.  She has mediated in LA County “helping seniors challenge bill collectors and negotiate fair settlements.  As a Long-term...

The Family Caregiver Alliance is a great resource if you’re one of the 42 million personal caregivers across the U.S.  Whether you need information on caring for someone with dementia, resources for advance care planning, or patient advocacy, the FCA website can help you.  According to the FCA website , “ The mission of Family Caregiver Alliance (FCA) is to improve the quality of life for family c...

We’re flexing our gratitude today to get 2021 started.  There’s no easier way to boost your self care wellness than practicing thankfulness.  We all know 2020 was challenging and at times, even heartbreaking.  In this New Year’s message, Helen and Jerry remember all the ways the past year helped us to grow.   Our Connection Moments campaign allowed us to encourage and support healthcare workers al...

Hospice agencies care for their patients all day, every day.  What should patients and caregivers expect from on call services during the night, weekends, or on holidays?  We’re talking about “on-call” services in today’s episode.  Being a seriously ill person or a caregiver for someone who’s seriously ill is very isolating.  It can feel like there’s no one else in the world awake, no one who care...

Music can improve quality of life for people experiencing a serious illness. The American Palliative Music Council provides “complementary and alternative uses of music in palliative care treatment for persons and families coping with serious illness from the time of diagnosis.” Under the leadership of Certified Palliative Music Planner™ (CPMP) Glenn Dewitt, the organization has free downloadable...

You’ll love the energy of this episode’s guest - Traveling Caregivers founder Dawn Renee. For the last 5.5 years Dawn has been a live-in caregiver caring for a friend with stage 4 ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (aka Lou Gherig’s disease).  Navigating caregiving at whatever level you are needing can easily be one of the most challenging tasks you may experience.  According to her website ( trav...

We’re overdue for a self care check in, so in today’s episode  Jerry and Helen are sharing the good and bad of their self care for the holiday season.  The last few months of the year can be a time of unhealthy eating, extra commitments, and short sleep.  All the “extras” can take a toll on our self care.  It’s important to remember that it’s so much harder to get your self care habits back on tra...

Feeling a little stressed by the holiday season?  Jerry and Helen talk about having a plan to keep yourself healthy - body, mind, and spirit.  While all the holiday fun is tempting, it’s a good idea to keep some balance with your habits.  Self care is so important!  Stick with routines for sleep and nutrition.  Find ways to feed your spirit even if your faith family isn’t gathering during the pand...

Ageism is an ugly reality in the U.S. healthcare system.  Today we’re talking about how you can identify ageism in how you talk to and care for your patients.  Healthcare providers often speak to older patients as if they were children, or incapable of understanding details about treatments or diagnoses.  Speaking in a way that is patronizing or condescending to your patients is offensive.  Find w...

The 2020 holidays are going to feel different, especially for people who are grieving the death of a loved one. The loss of someone you love along with changes due to the pandemic can make it necessary to create some new traditions.  You don’t have to let go of the rituals that you love, just find new ways to add meaning.  If you’re not able to travel, using tech tools like Facetime, Zoom, Google...

Vital Decisions knows how important it is to decide and document advance care plans before a crisis arises.  CEO Leah Puccio shares the mission of the company , and how their skilled clinicians assist individuals to make their wishes known.  Vital Decisions has helped over 300,000 people to consider their end of life wishes and get them written down in a legal format. Through the My Living Voice p...

The Dougy Center for Grieving Children helps to meet the unique grief needs of children and teenagers.  Today we’re talking about all the resources the Center has to support parents, educators and communities as they care for grieving kids.  According to the Dougy Center website , the organization “ provides support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families grieving a...

Matthew Curlewis’s heart shines in today’s episode.  You won’t want to miss the wisdom he shares about his caregiving experience with his terminally ill father.  The restrictions of the corona virus complicated the anticipatory grief Matthew and his family experienced.  He shares what he’s learned about collaborating with a healthcare team and being an advocate, reminding us all to not to “miss th...

During the month of November, the healthcare industry celebrates National Hospice and Palliative Care month. The theme this year is “The Faces of Caring”.  While hospice and palliative care professionals are wearing masks to keep us all safe during the COvID-19 pandemic, they’re still providing compassionate care to seriously ill patients.  If you’re part of a hospice agency and want to celebrate...

Thanks to the corona virus, we're using a lot of new terms - social distancing, COVID-19, pandemic, non-essential. While some members of the hospice team have been excluded from the care of patients, every discipline is essential to providing excellent patient care.  The IDT members most likely to be blocked from seeing patients and families are chaplains, social workers, aides, and volunteers.  J...

You’re going to laugh and learn in our interview with Licensed Independent Social Worker Supervisor Lisa Newburger, and her alter ego Diana Directive !  Lisa shares the wisdom she’s acquired while working with seriously ill patients and their families. She’s the owner of Discuss Directives , LLC, a company launched in 2010 to “provide continuing education programs and humorous wellness programs on...

Virtual conferences are the current trend while we cope with the pandemic. Today Helen and Jerry are talking about the benefits of attending a hospice conference virtually.    If you’re a hospice professional, ongoing education is essential to maintain current working knowledge of clinical care, regulations, and industry trends. Virtual attendance saves you money and time on travel, plus you can a...

Grief Recovery Specialist Calista Anderson is our special guest in today's episode.  She’s the owner of Living Beyond Grief and knows firsthand the consequences of loss and grief.  According to the Living Beyond Grief website , Calista’s mother died of a heart attack when she was 18.  She lost her true love to drug addiction and suffered additional, profound losses. She lost herself to overwhelmin...

We’re continuing to focus on the small habits that can make your Self Care successful in this third episode in our Atomic Self Care series.  Gratitude as part of Self Care benefits us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There are so many ways to practice being thankful.  It’s easy, inexpensive, and a great investment in your healthy Self!  Journal it.  Say it out loud like a mantra.  Write i...

Kate Schutt says it felt  natural for her to become a caregiver after her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The result of that caregiving journey is wisdom that pours out through her music.  In our interview with Kate, she shares the experiences that inspired Bright Nowhere, a collection of songs that share the strength and the joy of her relationship with her mom. Be sure to listen just a...

Keeping physically active is one of the cornerstone habits of healthy Self Care.  In the second episode of our series on Atomic Self Care, we’re talking about exercise.  Whether it’s a walk in the park, gym time, or gentle stretching you can do at home, get moving!  Start low and slow if you need.  If you haven’t exercised in a while, make sure to talk with your doctor to get ideas about what coul...

If you’re having difficulty sleeping these days, we’ve got some tips for you.  Jerry and Helen are sharing details about how you can get the most out of your sleeping hours.  Using guidance from The Sleep Institute, we’ve learned it’s the little habits that help with getting to sleep, staying asleep, and staying energized during the day.  Exercise, food and substance intake, screen time with blue...