The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Many people on hospice will need medical equipment (DME) to help improve their quality of life.  In most cases, medical equipment is supplied by the hospice agency through a third-party vendor at no cost to the patient.  In this episode Helen and Jerry share what you need to know about DME.  DME, or durable medical equipment, is used to help improve the patient's quality of life.  Wheelchairs and...

Helen & Jerry took a break during the holidays; time for self care, family connection, and general R & R.  On the HOH blog there were many featured writers who shared their thoughts and ideas with you, and the podcast featured some of your favorite episodes from the past as encore presentations.   The sabbatical is over now, and there's some fresh new content waiting to be published.  A ne...

Bereavement care is one of the primary services provided by hospice.  In this episode we discuss when bereavement care begins, and the methods that hospice caregivers often use to help those who are grieving. Grief counseling often uses the 5 stages of grief taught by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Helen and Jerry discuss the pros and cons of this theory, and...

Advance care planning is one of the many services that social workers provide for patients and families.  On this encore episode Katie Ortlip offers some insider tips from her experience as a social worker, and shares about the purpose of advance care planning, and the different documents that make up an advance care plan.  Listen to this episode to learn more about advance care planning, and the...

We had the opportunity to talk with Tom Batiuk, creator of the Funky Winkerbean comic strip, about how humor can have a positive affect on the mind, body, and spirit, even during difficult and stressful times. Listen to our interview for more about Tom's personal story, and about how humor can play a positive role in our lives.  Tom began drawing Funky over 45 years ago when he was still a middle...

Being a caregiver is a difficult job. Being a caregiver without any experience is even more difficult. We recommend Living With Dying by Jahnna Beecham & Katie Ortlip, as the most helpful resource available for caregivers. We offer our review of the book in this episode of Heartbeat.  Living With Dying is a comprehensive resource that explains every aspect of caregiving form diagnosis to death...

When a hospice patient's symptoms are becoming difficult to manage, hospice can assist by providing higher levels of care during a crisis.  Helen and Jerry discuss the two levels of care that can be provided on a short term basis to help when a patient needs more assistance. General inpatient (GIP) is provided at a medical facility such as a hospital or hospice inpatient unit.  Continuous care, or...

The majority (98%) of hospice care is provided at the patient's home, whether a private residence, assisted living, nursing home--wherever the patient calls home. In this episode we describe what services can be expected for the person who receives routine home care from hospice.  Routine home care services can include visits by an RN, a nurse aide, a social worker and a spiritual counselor, a vol...

There seems to be a lot of mystery and misunderstanding about how a person begins receiving hospice care. We demystify the hospice admission process in this episode so that patients and caregivers have a clear understanding of what's happening.   Who can initiate the hospice referral? Does it require a doctor's order? What qualifies a person to receive hospice? Which hospice agency should I choose...

“Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens," said Maria von Trapp. In this month's full-length episode we replay our interview with music therapist Kati Wettstein, as she talks about the power of music to open hearts. This was a favorite episode of many of our listeners, and we decided to release it again for our new listeners who may not have heard it before, and f...

Laughter and humor can also have positive affects on your spirit. In this episode Helen & Jerry continue discussing the positive affects of humor for self care.  In previous episodes (115 & 116) we discussed the affects of humor on the mind and the body.  This episode focuses on humor's affect on the spirit. Lowers stress Dissolves anger Unites people during difficult times Helps us gain p...

"Laughter is the best medicine," isn't just an old saying, it's truth. Studies have proven the benefits of laughter on the body. In this episode we focus on how laughter can be beneficial for your body.  Here are just a few of the benefits of laughter for the body,  Eases pain.  In a 1979 study, Norman Cousins discovered that "humor therapy" decreased a person's level of pain. Lowers blood pressur...

One of our favorite resources for advance care planning is The Conversation Project and they recently released a new resource for college age students. Learn more about it in today's episode. Did we mention it's available in 14 languages? Young adults have unique grief needs, and the The Conversation Project has created a resource to help meet this need. Their new resource is available for downloa...

Disasters happen and sometimes without notice. Hospice agencies are required to have emergency plans should there be a disaster in their area. This episode describes the responsibilities of the agency and the unit of care when emergencies happen. Hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, chemical spills, blizzards, the list of potential emergencies can be frightening. No matter where you live you...

Compassion fatigue is a reality for anyone who works in the helping professions: healthcare professionals, first responders, counselors, pastors, teachers, funeral industry workers, etc. Helen & Jerry discuss the effects of compassion fatigue, and ways you can overcome it. What is compassion fatigue? Definition-the physical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those wh...

Pallimed is an educational organization founded in 2005 by Dr. Drew Rosielle to train healthcare professionals about palliative care. Content is contributed by physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers and other professionals. We recommend Pallimed.org as a resource for all healthcare professionals, but especially for those working in the palliative care industry. To learn more about the res...

1 in 7 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before the age of 20 and 90% will experience the death of a relative or close friend. Good Grief is an organization that provides support & resources for children who have experienced loss.   In this episode, Helen & Jerry offer a review of the Good-Grief.org website.  Good Grief is an organization committed to providing free...

Deciding to place someone you love in a long term care facility is a difficult decision. It's even more complicated if you live far away.  This Heartbeat episode can give you resources & tips to make it easier.   To help make the decision easier and less complicated we recommend you use the services of a social worker, preferably one that already knows your loved one.  Hospice social workers a...

Sue Kemple is the CEO of a digital legacy creation service called My Last Soundtrack. They provide a way to create your own, or someone else's, digital legacy with music, photos, and recordings.  Have you ever been to a funeral or memorial and wondered who chose the music that was played? Because you knew the deceased wouldn't have chosen those songs.  What if you could create a playlist that perf...

If you're a personal caregiver to a family member you need to know about Family Caregiver Alliance.  FCA has been around for over 40 years providing support for caregivers of adult loved ones.   Resources they provide include: A “Family Care Navigator” section - assists in locating services in your area. Easy to access by clicking on your state. Features FCA Care Journey - a service for info, supp...

One of the most important aspects of hospice is the bereavement care that's provided following the patient's death.  NHPCO has published a new resource to assist bereavement care professionals.   The Guidelines for Bereavement Care “include information on assessment, scope of service, community collaboration, education and competency, an annotated bibliography, a professional competency assessment...

The National Caregiving Conference is created by caregivers for caregivers. NCC18 will be in Chicago on November 8-11, and hundreds of caregivers will attend in person, and hundreds more will attend virtually. Learn more about it in this episode.  If you're a personal or professional caregiver, we highly recommend that you consider attending NCC18. This conference will be filled with useful and va...

School is beginning and that signals the start of the race towards the end of the year, and that creates greater challenges for our self care. In this episode Jerry and Helen get honest about their good and bad self care habits.  We also encourage you to do 2 things, take an inventory of your self care habits, and make a plan to practice healthy self care for the rest of the year. Without a plan s...

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Chuck Olliff joins us on this episode to share his insights about grief and bereavement.  Chuck specializes in grief and bereavement counseling and has been a facilitator for bereavement support groups for over 15 years.   During our interview with Chuck he shared,  losses that can cause grief, the "phases" of grief and bereavement, causes of complicated grief...

Everyone's grief is as unique and individual as our fingerprints.  In this episode the discussion centers around the need for us to accept the way others grieve, even though it may be very different from our own.  Grief responses are often determined by the person's role in the family: spouse, child, sibling, parent, etc.  It can also be affected by the type of relationship (close, estranged, dist...