Oldest Adult Secrets to Long Healthy Lives (Longevity Research, Video 1:58)

Do you want to live to be in your nineties? How about living to be 100 and beyond in relatively good health for that age? More and more of the oldest adult Americans are doing just that. University of Southern California longevity researchers studying this extraordinary group of people have found several characteristics unique to the population of the oldest old:

1) They were more likely to live independently and had fewer diseases, better mental health, and better physical and cognitive function than those who did not survive to age 97.

2) They experienced health declines upon reaching 97 years of age, but between one-fifth and one-third of them remained disease free with no functional limitations or depressive symptoms, and one-fifth retained high cognitive function.

3) Oldest men were healthier than the oldest women, and whites were generally healthier than nonwhites. Oldest adults who were educated had better cognitive function than their less-educated counterparts.

Sure, we all know of and hear most about very old adults who reach maximum longevity in a state of poor health and functioning. But let us not forget about and encourage others to be more aware of the oldest of the old who remain healthy and high-functioning.

In this video titled Secrets to Living 100 Years, exceptionally old adults share their personal secrets to longevity:

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

How to Be a Great Hospice Volunteer

How to Be a Great Hospice Volunteer 

By Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes

1)   Remember why you serve.

There’s a reason you feel compelled to enhance lives of the terminally ill. Cherish that inspiration. Move forward committed to an amazing and rewarding healthcare adventure.

2)   Believe it’s all win-win.

Providing end-of-life service is a privilege, not a calling to be a savior. You and those you support come together in relationships of mutual healing and growth. Honor your win-win journey.

3)   Be present.

By all means, show up. But be present with patients after you arrive. Evaluate appearances, behaviors, surroundings, and interactions with others. Listen with your heart. Even silence speaks. Really try to understand living from their perspectives. Focus on advocacy for improving their quality of life.

4)   Try other doors.

Patients will have challenges such as dementia that may not respond to your usual front-door communication. Try other doors and even windows. Obstacles are enrichment opportunities in your partnerships with patients. Touch, music, pictures, stories, and fantasies are a few entry points. Let patients help you navigate your way into their world.

5)   Know your piece in the puzzle.

Adherence to rules of protocol and professional ethics should be routine. Be aware of boundaries such as confidentiality regarding yourself, your patients, and their loved ones. Follow guidelines of your hospice organization, and seek help when needed.

6)   Untie your knots.

There may be times of doubt, confusion, sadness, and guilt. These are normal knots of the caregiving process. Untie them by seeking support for your total well-being. Maintain proper rest, nutrition, exercise, and balance in your life. Do your best. Don’t be surprised when you discover reasons to kiss yourself.

7)   Spread the word.

Be knowledgeable about hospice and palliative care. Share information so others can benefit from these specialized areas of healthcare. Encourage involvement in hospice and palliative care career and service activities.

8)   Pick up a turtle.

If you see a turtle sitting on a fence post, you know somebody helped to put it there. Be on the lookout for turtles aiming for fence posts. Be a role model for other volunteers. Participate in organizations, conferences, workshops, and discussion groups where you can share best practices while learning new ideas.

   

9)   Write death sentences.

Death will come no matter how often you avoid it or wrestle it to the ground. Have your advance directives, finances, and property in legal order. Urge others to do the same. Don’t burden loved ones later with important decisions you can record now. As you unfasten yourself from this life, be satisfied knowing your death sentences will be carried out according to your wishes.

  

10)  Expect rainbow smiles.

Rainbow smiles hug you so tightly you can feel ribs of joy press against your essence. Hospice volunteering provides ongoing moments for you to positively impact lives. When you make those connections happen, rainbow smiles will come.

© Frances Shani Parker

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

Funeral Home Pacemakers: Recycled Gifts from the Dead (Research, Surgery Video 1:51)

When people think of gifts from the dead, they often think of organ donations that usually don’t reach poor patients in developing countries. But funeral homes have become involved with donating reused, permanent pacemakers for saving lives. A pacemaker device can be reimplanted to adjust an abnormally low heart rate to meet the body's needs during exercise or rest. Implantation of a pacemaker, generally in a pocket of skin in the shoulder area, typically can be done with local anesthetics and a sedative and include relatively quick recovery.

Pacemaker researchers at the University of Texas-Health Science Center studied 121 indigent patients in Mumbai, India at a charity hospital. All patients survived the pacemaker operations with no significant complications resulting from the surgery. Those employed were able to return to work and continue household chores. As a result of these gifts from the dead, poor patients in developing countries are able to improve their quality of life.

In the following video, Dr. Joseph Reilly, a board certified cardiologist and electrophysiologist, explains pacemaker implantation surgery:

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

Older Adults’ Body Odor: Research on Stereotypes Helps Children

Have you heard of "old people smell?" Stereotypes about older adults begin early in life, even as young as three years old. I saw this demonstrated at my school where I was principal. Our students completed pre and post surveys as part of their nursing home visits. We asked them what their expectations were about nursing homes and the residents who lived there. Fourth graders told us they thought residents would be boring, slow, grouchy, and trying to get into their "business."

At the nursing home, many residents made the students laugh and expressed how glad they were to see them. Students discovered that these older adults used to be young just like they were, and they were a lot like most people are. I remember several students being especially surprised to hear a woman in her eighties describe her basketball achievements in high school. Students were amazed at how their stereotypes about older adults changed when they did the same surveys after returning to school from their visits.

What concerns me most about these and other stereotypes about older adults is not only the negative impact they have on the self-esteem of the adults themselves, but also the negative impact they have on children. These negative biases can impact them through the years in ways that are damaging in how they treat older adults, perceive themselves, and in how they perceive aging. These youngsters may grow up to become the negative stereotypes they believe if they are not made aware that many stereotypes about older adults are myths.

With these thoughts in mind, I was encouraged that a common stereotype about older adults having bad body odor now has research to support that this stereotype is false. Many people, including some older adults, believe that a bad “old people smell” similar to mildew, tuna, mothballs, etc. naturally comes with aging. This NPR article published in the PLoS ONE Journal showcases research that not only refutes that theory, but also concludes that many older adults smell better than young people. Old people smell different, not worse.

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

Caregiver-Patient Poems: Nursing Home, Long-Term Care Mealtime, Volunteer Appreciation

I fell in love with poetry at an early age. The rhythms, the messages, and the sheer creativity of finding the right words have always been fascinating to me. As a hospice volunteer in Detroit nursing homes for many years, I naturally began to record my experiences in poetic forms. These are two of my caregiver-patient poems that are published in online anthologies at other websites.  I’ve given you the first few lines. Click the two publication links below to read my complete poems and offerings by other writers.

Mealtimes in long-term care and other older adult facilitites mean nourishment for residents’ bodies and minds. They are wonderful opportunities for caregiver and patient to share time together, sometimes ending with a special treat.

Sweet Treat

By Frances Shani Parker

A wisp of a woman, she waits

eagerly for her dinner tray.

I hide her magic ice cream cup

that makes other foods invisible.

Each mouthful of nutrition

adds time to her aging clock.

“Is this my ice cream?” she asks
before I feed her meatloaf.
She chews slowly, searches
for the missing sweetness.

Read the complete poem at The Barefoot Review.

Volunteering with terminally ill patients in a nursing home comes with unique challenges, especially when the patient and volunteer have difficulty communicating. Solving problems, realizing personal growth, and enjoying patient appreciation make service a very rewarding experience.

Victory

By Frances Shani Parker

His weary, tucked-in body
lies in a nursing home bed.
A black Gandhi, he yearns for peace.
His days are chains of mountains
formed by pressures of frustration.

I approach him like a helpless child,
wonder how to lift his spirits.
Eyes that have seen ninety years
squint tightly as daggers of pain
pierce his cancerous form.

Read the complete poem at The Survivor's Review.

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

Dementia Label Perceptions (Long-Term Care and Hospice Research, Alzheimer’s Video 3:41)

Many people have a need to label others. They struggle to ease the complexity of dealing with whole people by mentally putting them in a labeled box of who they think they are. They see someone for the first time and immediately begin to make judgments based on ethnicity, language, gender, religion, and other labels.

In work situations, labels can be particularly dangerous. A former school principal, I am aware that the most important influence for learning in any classroom is teacher expectations. The potential for doing damage to children is quite real when they are labeled negatively. Labels in the healthcare professions can also be damaging. Consider this research about perceptions resulting from labeling residents with dementia.

This study examined the labeling of nursing home and hospice residents, how it influenced employees’ perceptions, and how those perceptions could affect resident-caregiver interactions. Forty-three employees in various staff positions from a rural hospice and an urban nursing home were involved. Participants read a vignette based on a fictional resident’s behavior. They rated their perceptions of the behavior, indicating if and how they would report the event, and made recommendations for a possible course of action. Although the vignettes were the same, the fictional resident was labeled either as an Alzheimer’s resident in a specialized care unit or as a resident of a non-specialized long-term care unit.

Can you guess the results? If you guessed that the behavior of the resident labeled as an Alzheimer’s resident was perceived to be more problematic, inappropriate, and aggressive than the same behavior of the resident without the Alzheimer’s label, you would be right. Perceptions regarding a resident having Alzheimer’s disease were negative. Labels that interfere with impartial thinking of healthcare workers and others can be harmful to residents’ quality of life. The purpose of this post is to emphasize the importance of viewing people with dementia or any other disease as people first and not as disease labels.

In this video titled Live Outside the Stigma, Dr. Richard Taylor explains his personal life experiences and consequences of living with the myths and stigmas of dementia, probably the Alzheimer’s type.

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

Hospice and Palliative Care Veteran Services (Research, Video 4:46)

Nat was my most memorable patient with military service. Keeping a small American flag taped to his bed was his way of honoring those who returned from service in body bags or with physical and mental injuries. Although he had fought in Viet Nam years before we met as hospice volunteer and patient, his stories about his war experiences were as raw and real as any I have heard. He shared these reflections with me one day:

“I’ve seen and done things you couldn’t imagine. Some of them were horrible, I mean really horrible. Don’t ask me to tell you what they were, because I can’t talk about it. They say time heals all wounds, but it’s a lie. I left Viet Nam, but Viet Nam never left me. I carry it with me everywhere I go. All these years later, I still have nightmares like you wouldn’t believe. The doctor says it’s post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. I wake up shaking, gasping for breath with tears in my eyes. In my dreams, I’m always running hard, trying to escape. Sometimes my enemies are close enough for me to touch. I almost stop breathing to keep them from hearing me. I’m constantly thinking I’m not going to make it. Some nights they kill me before I wake up.” (Excerpt from Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes)

The number of veterans receiving hospice care continues to become a major area of expansion for the Veterans Health Administration. Research by the Department of Aging and Mental Health Disparities at the University of South Florida indicates that, of the millions of dollars being spent on veterans in hospice care, most of the funds are spent on younger veterans. Future trends indicate a growing need to allocate more funds for end-of-life care. Support and appreciation for the horrific sacrifices veterans have made are especially important during their death journeys.

This video titled Reaching Out to Those Who Served was produced by the Tennessee Hospice Association as part of a grant through the Veterans Administration and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. It presents a detailed overview of hospice and palliative care services for veterans.

                  



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

Hospice Diversity Outreach: Share Best Practices (Video .32)

Quality end-of-life care is an entitlement for everyone. That is the hospice philosophy. Unfortunately, hospice services continue to be underutilized nationally among various racial-ethnic groups and cultures. While several barriers to utilization have been studied, solutions always include the necessity of more diversity outreach by hospice organizations.

Hospice organizations must take proactive outreach roles in presenting the benefits hospice provides, while making all recipients of their services feel welcomed and respected. These are a few examples of outreach best practices:

1.  Having a committee to identify, educate, and serve populations not

     being served

2.  Changing photos on brochures and other media materials to reflect diverse populations

3.  Making cultural diversity an important part of staff development and

     recruitment

4.  Having 24/7 language interpretation services provided and included in media outreach

5.  Participating in racial-ethnic and cultural health initiatives, festivals, and events

I recently visited the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. As soon as the guide approached me, I said, “As-Salāmu`Alaykum,” probably with a Southern drawl. This is an Arabic greeting often translated as “Peace be with you.” It’s used among Muslims around the world. The guide immediately smiled widely, not because my Arabic language skills are good, but I think because he appreciated that I had made an effort to respect his culture. It may seem like a small thing, but my personal language “outreach” brought a new energy and acceptance to our meeting. That’s what diversity outreach can do.

In the video below titled Avow Hospice Speaks the Language of Care & Compassion, Avow Hospice sends a similar kind of message to their website viewers by addressing them in Spanish, French, Creole, and English, demonstrating that “care, compassion, and respect for family traditions and culture have no language boundaries.” Their website, which, translates into other languages, reaches out.

Sharing successful diversity outreach best practices can be a great strategy for hospices in promoting diversity in larger numbers.  Surely, there are hospice organizations that have created positive diversity outreach practices that can benefit others.  By sharing what your organization is doing, you send messages to other hospice organizations, potential staff members, patients, and community members that you support the hospice philosophy of quality end-of-life care for everyone.

         

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

Mother's Day Tribute to Mother Who Died From Alzheimer’s Disease (Video 5:07)

This post is dedicated to mothers everywhere, especially those who are living with or who have died from a terminal illness. The accompanying video is by raindancer808 from New Orleans, Louisiana. She honored her mother before she died with this Mother’s Day tribute that her mother never saw. She wrote:

“My Mom is in end stage Alzheimer's, and I wanted to do something special for her on Mother's Day.”

Honoring a Nun Who Has Alzheimer's Dementia

You can also read my tribute to a nun who positively impacted my life as a child and later developed and died from Alzheimer’s disease here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/honoring-nun-who-has-alzheimers-frances-shani-parker?trk=mp-reader-card

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