The Heart of Hospice Podcast

One of the most important qualities of a hospice professional is the ability to establish and maintain healthy boundaries with patients and families.  It provides protection for the professional and the patient. . It also builds trust between the professional and the patient. In this episode, Helen & Jerry discuss the purpose for boundaries, and the many "unfenced" boundaries that can be diffi...

Communication requires someone sending a message and someone receiving the message. We need to do both well. Listening, however, has become a lost art. It requires skill, and practice, and patience. In this Five for Friday episode Helen & Jerry share some basic tips on how to practice the art of listening. Every person has a story, and it's up to us, as hospice professionals, to draw out that...

The conversations that occur in hospice can sometimes be difficult and hard.  It's our job to do this the best way we can, with as much compassion as possible. He's not breathing. You need to call the family. She's passed away. Speaking hard truths about death with gentleness can be difficult. In hospice, we find the strength to tell those truths every day, with respect and compassion. Join Helen...

When patients who are dying are asked to discuss their lives, the discussion doesn't usually include how much money they earned. People who are dying don't usually talk about the big promotions at work or the retirement fund they built over the years.   They talk about their experiences. They talk about what they’ve done. Where they went. Who they met. Places to which they travelled. Wonders that...

People talk a lot about New Year’s Resolutions at this time of year. We make lists of things we want to change about ourselves. List of habits that we want to start. It’s a lot harder to actually make those things happen, and then to make them stick.  For 2017, we here at The Heart of Hospice decided to try something different. We decided to create a “Not To Do” list. The idea of the “Not To Do” l...

We all have our comfort zones that we like. We also have those areas where we feel out of our element. What's extremely difficult is when we feel out of our element in our own home.  This episode will discuss the struggles that hospice professionals, patients, and families encounter when hospice enters the home. There are levels of discomfort for all involved. Helen & Jerry discuss ways to hel...

2017 is almost here. 2016 is about to become a memory. As 2016 comes to an end we want to express how thankful we are for each of you. Thanks for listening to this podcast and thanks for sharing it with others.  In this episode Helen & Jerry reflect on the beginning of the Heart of Hospice, and share some of our plans for 2017.  Take a look at our website to discover more of our plans for 2017...

In this Five for Friday episode, Helen & Jerry discuss their self care calendar experiment. During the month of December and part of January, Helen put together a calendar with daily self care suggestions for body, mind and spirit. Every day we would each choose either a suggestion from the body, mind or spirit category. In a future episode we will report what the experiment taught us.  Since...

We know how hard it is to consistently maintain healthy self care, because we’ve had our share of bad habits. (We still do.) In this episode Helen & Jerry share the Best and Worst of our holiday self care habits, so maybe you can learn from the mistakes we’ve made. Or maybe get some ideas on how to practice healthy self care during the holidays.  Do you have some ideas to share with our listen...

Self care is best achieved by caring for the whole person: body, mind and spirit. Caring for the whole person is best achieved by engaging all of our 5 senses.  Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch.  Helen & Jerry share some ideas on how to provide self care through our 5 senses. It's particularly appropriate during the holiday season when there are so many things seeking the attention of our...

Holiday coping tips

It’s an overwhelming time of year. As if our normal days aren’t busy enough, our lives can become so hectic during a holiday time that we no longer enjoy it. It’s easy to find ourselves exhausted - mind, body, and spirit.  For those who are caregivers of a hospice patient (personal or professional), there can be a unique weariness. Bodies worn down from short sleep. Minds overwhelmed with responsi...

It's Black Friday! Ready or not the holiday season is here.  The holiday season can be one of our favorite seasons, but it's also one of the most stressful times of the year. Here's our list of recommended self care tips for the holidays: 1. Give yourself permission to say no. 2. Find ways to engage all of your senses to re-energize yourself.  3. Bake a cherished recipe and savor the memory that c...

Have you ever had a bad day? Who hasn't, right? In this episode Helen & Jerry talk about how to turn a bad day into a good day with one quick and easy solution. What are we talking about?  A gratitude list! A daily gratitude list has a way of turning around your attitude, your mental focus, and even improve your physical well-being. To make it even better, we would like to encourage you to do...

Veterans Day in the United States is a day to honor the men and women who have served in our military. This group of people, from every era and every branch, have sacrificially given themselves to the call of duty and honor, to preserve our national freedoms. Today, The Heart of Hospice wishes to recognize them for their patriotism and loyalty. Veterans on hospice has continued to increase through...

Hospice Month

October is Clergy Appreciation Month, so in this Five for Friday we recognize the men and women who provide spiritual care for hospice patients.  Spiritual care counselors (chaplains) are a part of the holistic care that's provided for a hospice patient and their family. They come alongside to offer emotional and spiritual support.  Please take time to say thank you to these spiritual encouragers...

The Heart of Hospice website and blog is now live! We are excited to announce today that our website is no longer under construction, but is a fully functional website complete with blog posts, a resource page, and a contact page. You can also listen to the HOH podcast directly on the website.  Our special thanks to our friends that shared their talents and resources with us in creating the HOH we...

Are you confused about how someone qualifies to be a hospice patient?  This episode will help to remove some of the confusion about the diagnoses that may qualify a patient for hospice. Not every patient with a chronic illness can receive hospice coverage. They first have to be certified by a doctor as having a terminal illness, or life-limiting illness, with a prognosis of 6 months or less life e...

Volunteers are literally the heart of hospice, and on this episode of Five for Friday, Helen & Jerry discuss the need for hospice volunteers and what type of work volunteers can perform to serve the hospice agency and the patients.  Have you been a hospice volunteer? Let us know about your experiences as a volunteer. What kind of activities have you been involved in? What were some of the most...

How important is it that a caregiver practice healthy self care? Consider these statistics. 80% of care provided to hospice patients is provided by unpaid caregivers (typically, family members). 17.9 billion hours of unpaid care is provided annually for Alzheimers patients alone. 34% of those unpaid caregivers are over 65 years old, and 1 in 10 are over 75 years old. Unpaid caregivers provide care...

Need a lift here at the end of your week? Try this: make a list of your favorite things, and you may just see your mood begin to change.  In this episode Helen & Jerry share some of their favorite things from their own personal lists. What are your favorite things? Why not make a list, and share them with us. Email us your list at host@theheartofhospice.com . We would love to hear from you.  H...

Happy Friday everyone! Helen & Jerry discuss the power of numbers in this Five for Friday episode. Numbers tell a story. From a clinical perspective, numbers reveal the status of the body: blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate, blood sugars, etc. It's not all about the numbers, though. Numbers matter, but we have to see the patient beyond just their numbers.  A quote by Dame Cicely Saun...

No one likes the unknown. We prefer having at least a hint of what's going to happen next. When a patient begins receiving hospice care, there are many unknowns for the patient and the family. Today's Five for Friday will help explain what can be expected on the first day and week. Listen in and you'll hear the details that will help make the beginning a little easier to accept.   Would you do our...

Practicing good, healthy self care habits is a daily challenge. In this week's Five for Friday, Helen & Jerry share their best & worst self-care habits of the past week. Our worst might give you a laugh or two, and the best will hopefully give you some encouragement to find your own "best" self-care habits. Be sure and listen all the way to the end of this episode for a special out-take. S...