Intergenerational Holiday and Year-Round Healthcare Volunteer Service (Video 1:58)

Holidays are great times for intergenerational partnerships between young people and older adults. Both groups can benefit from positive activities that bring them together. Negative stereotypes about older adults can be present in children as young as three years old. While children also learn negative stereotypes from the media and from observing how others treat older adults, they can learn many positive lessons about them through their early personal interactions. Older adults often enjoy these connections that broaden their knowledge, help with caregiving, and lift their spirits.

When intergenerational partnerships take place in the healthcare arena, there are added bonuses. Children become more familiar with specifics of aging, issues of illness, caregiving challenges and rewards, and career choices they may not have considered. Most young people have no idea what hospice organizations do or what role they can play in improving the quality of life for terminally ill patients.

Some healthcare facilities have teenage volunteers who can do the following assignments:

1. Perform in-office work including filing, faxing, and preparing admission packets.

2. Host tea parties, movies, and other social events at nursing homes.

3. Provide one-on-one time and attention by reading to, writing letters for, playing games with, or simply talking and listening to patients.

4. Videotape, record, or make booklets of patients’ life reviews.

5. Assist families with yard work, cleaning out the garage, planting flowers, small paint jobs, and home-building projects (i.e. wheelchair ramp).

6. Assist patients and families by doing errands, walking dogs, picking up groceries, etc.

In this video, student volunteers at Liberty Hospice in Whiteville, NC decorate dozens of Christmas ornaments for hospice patients.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers in America and other countries and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

End-of-Life Conversations Honor Future Wishes

The holidays provide wonderful opportunities for families and close friends to get together, reminisce, and have a joyful time. But what about happiness in the future? Eight out of ten people say it is “very” or “somewhat” important to write down end-of-life wishes, but only 36% actually have written instructions. Why not take advantage of holiday time together to engage in important end-of life conversations that can be crucial later in honoring wishes of those you love and yourself.

Engage With Grace  is a a movement aimed at promoting these kinds of conversations using the five questions below. They’re not easy questions, but they are important and shouldn’t be ignored. Sometimes we think we know what loved ones want, and we really don’t. Later in life, when several people are involved in making inevitable decisions about life threatening health matters, guessing, confusion, and hurt feelings can easily hinder progress. The key to preventing this negativity is having end-of-life conversations when they can be positive with personal input regarding what loved ones really want. Fortunately, many people actually enjoy discussing their answers with loved ones.

Are you aware that some chronically ill and dying Americans are receiving more care than they and their families actually want or benefit from? Add a new gift to your holidays by including thoughtful conversations that can improve quality of life. No one knows what the circumstances could be at future family gatherings during a healthcare crisis. You and your loved ones can benefit greatly from answering these questions and implementing the suggestions given by being proactive  when the time comes:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers in America and other countries and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Near-Death Experience (NDE): Afterlife or Hallucination? (Research, Eben Alexander Video 2:41)

Near-death experiences have been a source of ongoing controversy for centuries. Depending on whom you ask, you’ll get totally different interpretations regarding these profound phenomena of personal experiences related to impending death. Descriptions from those who are usually clinically dead often include bright light, sensations of detachment from the body, travel through space, and intense emotions. Many in the scientific community refer to these experiences as hallucinations, while paranormal experts and others support them as evidence of an afterlife.

The Medical Research Council and Brain Sciences Unit states, “These experiences classically involve the feeling that one's soul has left the body, approaches a bright light and goes to another reality, where love and bliss are all encompassing. Contrary to popular belief, research suggests that there is nothing paranormal about these experiences. Instead, near-death experiences are the manifestation of normal brain function gone awry, during a traumatic, and sometimes harmless, event.”

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers and in e-book at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Caregiver and Alzheimer’s Disease Holiday Support (Video 1:57)

November brings thoughts of holiday celebrations with family and friends. For caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, festive thoughts of socializing can seem overwhelming. They may dread the upcoming gatherings expected during this busy time of year. These are some questions caregivers of  loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease may be considering:

1)   What’s the best time of day to celebrate?

2)   Will family and friends be understanding of caregiver needs and needs of loved ones with Alzheimer’s?

3)   What strategies can be used to relieve stress?

4)   How can loved ones with Alzheimer’s be involved as active participants?

5)   What would be good gifts for caregivers and loved ones with Alzheimer’s to receive?

This Alzheimer’s Association video is titled Caregiving Through the Holidays. Narrated by Eve Moses, an educator with the Alzheimer’s Association, it offers practical suggestions that can assist in making happy holiday memories.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers in America and other countries and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog