The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Heartbeat is the new weekly podcast episode from The Heart of Hospice. Heartbeat has taken the place of the Five for Friday.   There's a new format, that will include short segments of current hospice news, as well as a focus presentation on a specific subject of interest. Some things aren't going to change, however. Our dedication and mission to enhancing your hospice journey will never change.  

1 out of 4 hospice patients in the U.S. are military veterans, and these veterans have very unique grief responses.  Hospice professionals can provide specialized bereavement care for the men and women who protect our country.   In this episode, we discuss the unique concerns of military veterans and their grief that's often complicated by PTSD or survivor's guilt.  Those who serve military vetera...

Complicated grief occurs more often in people between the ages of 75-84, and there's a higher risk of depression, anxiety and suicide among this population as well. In this episode we discuss the unique grief needs of the elderly.  As a person ages their grief can become challenging for several reasons.   An accumulated grief due to the loss of siblings, friends, and significant others in their li...

Bereavement care is actually one of the primary services provided by hospice.  In this episode we discuss when bereavement care begins, and the way that grief care is often provided by hospice caregivers.  Grief counseling will often use the 5 stages of grief taught by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Here are links to the resources mentioned in this episode: ww...

This week we're celebrating our 2nd anniversary. As part of the celebration Helen and Jerry are sharing some of their gratitude moments each day this week. Today, Jerry offers his gratitude to the current leaders in the hospice industry. People like Edo Banach of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, and Tracey Bleakley of HospiceUK, and hospice educator and author, Barbara Karn...

Edo Banach, president & CEO of NHPCO, talks about The Heart of Hospice.

Today we celebrate the 100th episode of our weekly podcast. In this episode we take a look back, a look forward, and we ask for your help in creating new content.   The weekly podcast also has a new name. This is the premiere episode of Heartbeat, a weekly audio magazine from The Heart of Hospice. We designed Heartbeat to give you small doses of helpful resources, share current hospice trends, and...

This week we're celebrating our 2nd anniversary. As part of the celebration Helen and Jerry are sharing some of their gratitude moments each day this week. Today, Helen gives thanks for all of the millions of caregivers who deliver care to their loved ones.  We hope that if you're a caregiver for someone you love, that you receive some encouragement from The Heart of Hospice. 

Barbara Karnes talks about The Heart of Hospice. 

Today is August 1.  Two years ago today the first 3 podcast episodes of The Heart of Hospice were published on iTunes.  Back then we were asking our friends and family to listen to us, and telling everyone we knew that there was a new hospice podcast available.   Two years and 100 episodes later, and we're still just as excited to tell people about The Heart of Hospice projects.   In this episode...

This week we're celebrating the 2nd anniversary of The Heart of Hospice.  As part of the celebration Helen and Jerry are sharing some of their gratitude moments each day this week.  Today, Helen & Jerry shares their gratitude for everyone who listens to the podcast and reads our blog.  Be sure and listen each day this week for our gratitude moments with you.  Take a moment and follow us on Fac...

This week we're celebrating the 2nd anniversary of The Heart of Hospice.  As part of the celebration Helen and Jerry are sharing some of their gratitude moments each day this week.  Today, Jerry shares his thankfulness for the pioneers of hospice, the ones who created the legacy that we now hold in our hands. Listen each day this week as we share our gratitude moments with you.  Please take a mome...

This week we're celebrating the 2nd anniversary of The Heart of Hospice.  As part of the celebration Helen and Jerry are sharing some of their gratitude moments each day this week.  Today, Helen shares her gratefulness for all of the hospice colleagues she's had the privilege to work with.   Listen each day this week for a new gratitude moment.  

There are occasions when a person will be discharged by a hospice agency for “failure to decline.”  In this episode we explain the reasons why this can occur, and what the patient and family should expect.   “Failure to decline” or “extended prognosis” are the terms that are typically used to describe the reasons for discharging someone from hospice.  Learn more about the reasons why this happens,...

There are times when a patient or family may want to change hospice providers.  In this episode we explain the process to follow for that to occur. Here are some things to remember:  The patient or family has the right to transfer from one hospice agency to another agency of their choice. A transfer can occur one time in a benefit period (hospice agency is responsible for tracking this, and lettin...

When a person elects hospice care it doesn't mean they have to remain on hospice. They can choose to revoke the hospice benefit for traditional, or aggressive treatment. In this episode we explain the reasons a person might choose to revoke hospice, and the process to make it happen.   Here's some things to remember: A revocation is a discharge from hospice that’s initiated by the patient or famil...

In this Five for Friday episode we explain the process that normally takes place when a death occurs at home.  It's our strong belief that education regarding the death & dying process can alleviate most of the fear and anxiety for patients and their families.   Here's a few things to know: Hospice care does not ever accelerate or facilitate a patient’s death. The hospice team will teach about...

June is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, so we've talked about Alzheimer's Disease on our weekly Five for Friday episodes the last few weeks.  The typical trajectory for Alzheimer's Disease is around 8-10 years, which is why it's often called the "long goodbye."  There are typically 3 phases to the disease trajectory: early stage, middle stage, and end stage.  It's at the end stage when most people wi...

There are currently 5.7 million Alzheimer's patients in the United States. All of these patients need caregivers, and half of all of the non-paid caregivers for all patients, are caring for an Alzheimer's patient.  Of these caregivers 1/3 of them are over 65 years old, and 67% of them are women.  In this episode, we're talking about the high level of stress that's placed on a caregiver for an Alzh...

June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, and we want to share with you the best resource for anyone affected by Alzheimer's disease, whether you're a patient, a personal caregiver for someone with Alzheimer's, or a professional caregiver.  The Alzheimer's Association website is filled with information and resources that can help you learn more about the disease.  It also has ways for caregiv...

When Edo Banach became the president and CEO of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in 2017, he began touring the country and visiting with hospice providers so that he could learn from them what's good about hospice, and what needs to change.  We had the privilege of spending some time with Edo, and listening to him share his thoughts on what hospice is doing right her...

NHPCO CEO & president, Edo Banach, shares his thoughts on changes that are ahead for the hospice industry.  This 1 minute preview is from the complete interview to be published on Friday, June 1.  Like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be notified when the full interview is available.  The podcast is always available on Apple Podcast, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and Google Pl...

We were recently introduced to a project that's sweeping city after city, all over the world.  It's an art project, started by Candy Chang in New Orleans, called Before I Die . After the death of very close friend, Chang was pushed by her grief to create this project on the wall of a dilapidated building in New Orleans.  She painted the outside of the building with chalkboard paint and stenciled t...

"Let's have dinner, and talk about death."  That's the invitation that Death Over Dinner is offering to people so that they can talk about a very important subject: death.   Helen & Jerry discuss the details of how Death Over Dinner helps to engage and empower people to talk about one of the most difficult conversations they need to have.   To learn more, visit www.deathoverdinner.org,  and be...

May 6-12 is National Nurses Week here in the U.S. and The Heart of Hospice wants to honor all of the hard-working, dedicated, and compassionate nurses who work in hospice.  Hospice nurses have specialized training to provide quality care for those with life-limiting illnesses.   In this episode, our resident hospice nurse, Helen Bauer, explains the daily activities of a hospice nurse.  Listen in,...