Holiday End-of-Life Conversations: Five Questions

Take advantage of this holiday time together to engage in important end-of-life conversations. They can be crucial later in honoring wishes of those we love and ourselves. After all, it’s a great opportunity to have more family members involved.

Engage With Grace is 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 our loved ones want, but we really don’t. Later in life, when several people are involved in making inevitable decisions about threatening health matters, guessing, confusion, and hurt feelings can easily hinder progress. Some negative feelings may remain long after the deceased loved one has died. The key to preventing these kinds of interactions is having end-of-life conversations when they can be positive, including personal opinions regarding loved ones' wishes. Fortunately, many people actually enjoy discussing their answers with loved ones.

Add new meaning 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 or during a healthcare crisis. Some who are present this year may not be present next year. Everyone can benefit greatly from answering these questions and implementing the suggestions given. The Caring Connections website has information to help with your plans. (Click on the questions below to make them larger):

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

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

Holiday End-of-Life Conversations

The holidays often provide opportunities for families and close friends to get together, reminisce, and have a joyful time. But what about happiness in the future? Why not take advantage of this time together to engage in important end-of life conversations that can be crucial later in honoring end-of-life 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.

Add new meaning 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. The Caring Connections website has information to help you with your plans. (Click on the questions below to make them larger):

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 form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

Engage With Grace: Discuss End-of-Life Wishes During Holidays

For three years running now, many of us bloggers have participated in what we call a “blog rally” to promote Engage With Grace, a movement aimed at making sure all of us understand, communicate, and have honored our end-of-life wishes. The rally is timed to coincide with a weekend when most of us are with the very people with whom we should be having these unbelievably important conversations – our closest friends and family.

At the heart of Engage With Grace are five questions designed to get conversations about end-of-life started. We’ve included them at the end of this post. They’re not easy questions, but they are important. Believe it or not, most people find they actually enjoy discussing their answers with loved ones. The key is having these conversations before it’s too late.

This past year has done so much to support our mission to get more and more people talking about their end-of-life wishes. We’ve helped make this a topic of national importance. We commend everyone who has taken this topic so seriously. 

Happy holidays and thank you to all who have done so much to spread the word, including sharing questions from The One Slide below:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

"Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes”

“Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog”