The Heart of Hospice Podcast

The Sisterhood of Care is using their superpowers to create a caregiving team. Their podcast, Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver, is a safe space for anyone who has a role as a caregiver for someone they love.   The three sisters - JJ, Natalie, and Emilie - have created a caregiver village to support their mom, who lives with Parkinson’s disease. The journey hasn’t been easy. They’ve learned a l...

Amy Goyer knows a few things about caregiving. Her journey as a family caregiver began early in her 20’s, caring for great-grandparents, and then each generation after. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy, and has held multiple positions of advocacy for older adults, children, and families. Amy is also a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS). Through the years she’s balanced caregi...

Dr. Sammy Winemaker is starting a social healthcare revolution with The Waiting Room Revolution podcast. On The Waiting Room Revolution podcast, Sammy is having insightful conversations about palliative care, advance care planning, and change-making for end-of-life care with co-host Dr. Hsien Seow. Sammy is an Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, in the Division of Palliati...

Joanne Eason, President of Five Wishes, knows it’s important to document our end of life wishes so our voices are heard when we can’t speak for ourselves. Five Wishes was established over 25 years ago through a series of listening tours, asking people what was important to them. From those results, the Five Wishes document was formed with guidance from the American Bar Association and other pallia...

Home funeral director Glenda Villegas helps families to create meaning with home funerals.   After learning valuable lessons about what it’s like to plan a funeral for the unexpected loss of a loved one, Glenda started a career working in the funeral industry. She first worked in pre-need cemetery sales, then moved on to family services where she learned how to serve families at death. During thes...

Sociavi founder Paula Muller realized the need to keep her mother connected with all the activities of her family living internationally. That need planted the seed for the Sociavi device. #senioradult #cognitivedecline #dementiacaregiver https://theheartofhospice.libsyn.com/sociavi-is-a-revolutionary-device-keeping-older-adults-connected The name Sociavi comes from the Latin word “share” and “uni...

Today’s guest is Sarah Turner, CEO and founder of My Modern Tribute. They’re writing life tributes that provide opportunities to celebrate and honor a life while we’re still alive . Over the years, Sarah learned that we all have stories to share. We’re all interconnected by a shared human story. Sarah believes that everyone deserves a space to express their feelings, and understands the importance...

Melanie McMillion has found meaning in her decades working as a hospice counselor and community educator. Melanie is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and has worn a lot of hats as a hospice worker. She worked as the Director of Psychosocial Services, leading a 45-person interdisciplinary team of social workers, counselors, and spiritual care counselors to coordinate psychosocial, spiritual, and...

The Legacy Letters Journal is a passion project that created meaning for Kera Sanchez after losing her mom. Here’s how Kera describes the mission of the Journal.  “​​This guided journal is designed to help individuals create a personal legacy for their loved ones to cherish after their time is up. The journal prompts users to reflect on their life experiences, values, and beliefs, and to record th...

Hospice nurse and EOL doula Gabrielle “Gabby” Jimenez of The Hospice Heart talks about navigating a complicated death, managing grief, and finding your way through the most difficult losses. As an end of life doula, nurse, educator, and author, Gabby has guided many families. She says "Meet them where they are, not where we want them to be". End of life workers strive to support the patient and ca...

Chris Magliocca of National HME knows providing medical equipment for hospice patients is all about service, empathy and quality of life.  Part of the service provided by hospice care is what’s called DME, Durable Medical Equipment.  DME includes items like wheelchairs, walkers, canes, oxygen, hospital beds, Hoyer lifts, bath equipment, and other pieces of equipment.  While DME is 10% of the inter...

GrandPad founders Scott and Isaac Lien recognize how important it is to make older senior adults feel confident and stay connected. Scott’s 80-year old mom was easily frustrated by technology, sharing with him that she felt stupid trying to use online video chat and social media sites. The father and son team founded a company and created a device that provides a myriad of ways to support older ad...

The death of Leilani Maxera’s grandmother changed her, propelling her into a career path she hadn’t predicted. Now she’s a social worker, a home funeral advocate, and a grief worker supporting families who have experienced Medical Aid in Dying.  Hospice was never offered to her grandmother, and this made Leilani an outspoken advocate for advance care planning and end of life care. She’s also a spo...

Hospice physician and podcaster Jordan Grumet is sharing how his work with hospice patients creates deep conversations about end of life planning, money, and life. Dr. Grumet is currently an associate medical director at Journeycare Hospice. After years of blogging about financial independence and wellness, Jordan launched the Earn & Invest podcast in 2018. In 2019 he received the Plutus Award...

Hospice physician and podcaster Jordan Grumet is sharing how his work with hospice patients creates deep conversations about end of life planning, money, and life. Dr. Grumet is currently an associate medical director at Journeycare Hospice. After years of blogging about financial independence and wellness, Jordan launched the Earn & Invest podcast in 2018. In 2019 he received the Plutus Award...

Sue Ryan has been walking a caregiver’s journey for 40 years. Now she’s teaching others how to thrive while caring for a loved one. Sue is the founder/owner of Sue Ryan Solutions, a company that offers guidance for non-professional caregivers, helping them to be confident. Caring for various loved ones through the years and now caring for her husband has taught Sue deeply valuable lessons about th...

Mi Alma is helping grievers by bringing together friends, family, and coworkers to provide the help they need most. Co-founders Jordan and Scott Arogeti realized we’re not very good at supporting grievers. They’ve created a place that provides opportunities to record legacies through photos, videos, and memory sharing. It was important to Jordan and Scott that Mi Alma’s services provide a sense of...

Physician Dr. Ira Byock is a voice for change in the hospice industry, and an advocate for quality end of life care. His many years of experience in hospice medicine, coupled with the compassion he has for people dealing with serious illness, have made him an industry leader in the U.S. According to his website (irabyock.org), he is “Founder of the Institute for Human Caring at Providence St. Jose...

1 in 4 Medicare hospice patients is a military veteran. Frederick Health Hospice is going the extra mile to meet the unique needs of veterans at the end of life. While Frederick focuses on care, comfort, and hope, they also focus on the needs of U.S. veterans in their community. Executive director Carlos Graveran, an Army veteran himself, created a Hospice Veteran Liaison position to provide more...

Soaring Spirits International is built by widowed people to support widowed people. Michele Neff Hernandez built the non-profit organization she needed when her husband died unexpectedly, leaving her with a blended family of six kids to care for as she managed her own grief. Michele realized she needed to connect with others who reflected the same kind of grief and loss she was experiencing as a y...

Write a letter to someone you’ve lost, and send it to Postal Service for the Dead! End of life doula and artist Janelle Ketcher founded Postal Service for the Dead to be an ongoing, collective project where people send letters to anyone in their life who has died. People write letters to someone special to them who has died and send them to the Postal Service for the Dead. If the writer wants to k...

Death doulas Jo-Anne Haun and Karen Henderickson are bringing value to the care of people with serious illnesses. They’re the co-founders of Death Doula Network International (DDNI), a passionate community committed to connection, support & education for ANYONE interested in Death Literacy & Positivity.   As a team Jo-Anne and Karen are pragmatic and heart-centered Death Educators and faci...

Today’s guest Katrina Spade is changing the landscape of death care as CEO/founder of Recompose, an organization offering human composting as an environmental-friendly alternative to traditional burial and cremation.   Katrina is the founder and CEO of Recompose, a public benefit corporation leading the transformation of the funeral industry. She’s the designer and inventor of a system that transf...

Hospice nurses Nancy Heyerman and Brenda Kizzire are on a mission to transform the end-of-life experience through education and support. They know what it takes to be a caregiver for someone with a serious illness. Between them Nancy and Brenda have over 40 years of hospice nursing experience. They’re The Hospice Queens! Like so many hospice nurses in the US, Brenda and Nancy have watched caregive...

Cathy VandenHeuvel, host of the Caregiver Cup podcast, is helping working women caregivers fill their cups. She’s got a lot of caregiving wisdom to share. Cathy and her siblings formed a caregiving team to care for both of their parents at the end of their lives. Drawing on their individual strengths, they managed both care experiences - one without hospice care and one in partnership with a hospi...