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Monday, June 17, 2019

End-of-Life Phenomena (EOLP): Hospice Volunteer Research

I have been a hospice volunteer for 20 years, mainly giving bedside care to residents in Detroit, Michigan nursing homes. Most of my assigned hospice residents shared rooms with one to three other residents. During weekly visits, my residents and I have discussed numerous topics. Occasionally, conversations included end-of life phenomena (EOLP) in which they spoke about visiting or being visited by spirits. Discussions about spirits created opportunities for them to express emotions openly about death while reflecting on life. They enjoyed describing their visitors and their trips. Their detailed comments explained, not only whom they saw, but also their clothing, scenery, and pets. 

Many hospice volunteers and healthcare workers have had similar conversations with patients about these phenomena. Researched end-of-life phenomena (EOLP) surveying thirty-nine hospice volunteers revealed the following:

1) Forty-nine percent of the volunteers either had personally witnessed EOLP in their volunteer work and/or had a patient or patient's family member report EOLP to them. 


2) More than half of the volunteers agreed that EOLP influenced their religious beliefs and their spirituality in a positive way.

3) Eighty-nine percent of the volunteers indicated that they had never received any training about EOLP. Nearly all of the volunteers were interested in learning more about EOLP.

4) After completing the survey, fifty-nine percent of the volunteers shared EOLP stories they had either personally witnessed or heard. The most frequently reported experiences involved deathbed visions.

Deathbed visions have also been my own most frequent EOLP topic in conversations with my own residents. I understand that some people say these spirit sightings are medical, chemical reactions in the brain or hallucinations. I also know that others speaking from emotional, spiritual perspectives say they are angels, spirits, or ghosts who are there to connect with them. For all those reasons, I do think these sightings should be reported to appropriate healthcare workers. 


Personally, I go along with my residents’ EOLP explanations because the experiences have always been comforting and positive to them. I think about a Song of Solomon book quote from Nobel Laureate-winning author Toni Morrison: “What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?” In other words, these visions happen, and they are real to residents. Readers can draw their own conclusions:

(Below is an excerpt from my book Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes. )

“What did you do today?” I asked Rose after feeding her.

“Me? I’ve been spending time with my people. I enjoyed myself a lot.”

“Hey, that’s great. Did your relatives drive in from Chicago?”

“No, I went to heaven. It’s the nicest place, all clean and bright with beautiful scenery everywhere. I saw my family and plenty of my friends. They all wore long white gowns.”

“Wow! I guess that’s a place you’ll want to visit again.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be going back. I’m planning to go stay there when I die. I’ll see if I can help you get in, too.”

“Thanks. I would really appreciate that.”

(It's good to have connections.)


Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers.
Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 23, 2019

    When the last of my mother's sisters was near death, I called her up at her home in New Hampshire. We had a conversation in which she reported visiting with her mother (who died in 1953) and having a great conversation with her. Within the week my aunt passed away. I suspect she and her mom and sisters are reunited and having fine conversations again.

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    Replies
    1. Dave, that's a great story, and you know all the characters. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are laughing right now about Dave "writing about us on the Internet!" and how they always knew "that boy Dave was always so kind and smart!" Happy endings, indeed! Frances

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    2. AnonymousJuly 04, 2019

      it's interesting how your post stirred other memories. My mother-in-law reported seeing her deceased parents and late husband in her later years and, she found these appearances comforting, giving her hope of seeing these people again after her death.

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    3. Dave, with all your contacts, you will probably have a loving group of people celebrating your arrival on the Other Side of Through:

      The Other Side of Through

      Another world awaits you
      where land and sky embrace.
      Spirit, wisdom, nature
      celebrate your arrival.
      Journey where sounds
      vibrate with peace,
      rain splatters blessings,
      language flows into every heart.
      What fun it is to swim
      in rivers of conversations
      kept afloat by mutual goodwill
      when everyone clings
      to rafts of one another.

      Feast at tables where
      hunger can’t be remembered,
      kindness is never forgotten,
      laughter tickles the universe.
      Let your fertile mind
      grow bouquets of ideas,
      silence hold you in its arms
      while the unsaid is said.
      Live miracles every moment
      with worry-free days.
      Time has no reason to fly,
      no way to be wasted,
      no wounds to heal.
      Can you feel the love?

      Frances Shani Parker

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