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If you are new to the world of hospice and end of life care you have many questions. Put simply, hospice is the spiritual, emotional and physical care of a human being at the end of their life. That being said, there is so much to learn in order to make the best possible decisions and choices about your own or a loved one’s care during the final stages of life.
There is also another area of care, called Palliative Care, which is not limited to end of life care or hospice. It is an interdisciplinary medical care approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex illnesses.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has created a comprehensive guide to help answer these questions for patients and family caregivers on their Caring Info site
Some of the areas covered are:
The Oregon Hospice & Palliative Care Association is a helpful resource for learning more about hospice, local providers, and options for your end-of-life care.
Death Doulas, also called End of Life Doulas (EOLDs) or Death Midwives, enrich the dying experience for patients, family members and friends. They are trained professionals who strive to be a support system to those who are terminally ill, elderly or healthy, by providing assistance, guidance and advanced planning for transformative life changes. A death doula’s work can range from logistical planning for the time before, during and after death, practical training for family caregivers, funeral, memorial services, rituals/ceremonies, bedside vigils to the dying, and grief support. They do not provide direct medical support to patients and many EOLDs may specialize in a particular area.
The National End of Life Doula Alliance (NEDA) maintains a national directory of death doulas. Through this resource, people seeking a death doula can find someone in their area.
National End of Life Doula Alliance
Advance Directive Forms/About the Public Health Division/State of Oregon.
Helping people share their wishes for care through end of life.
Death Wise is committed to helping people talk about, make decisions and plan for the end of their lives.
Five Wishes is a United States advance directive created by the non-profit organization Aging with Dignity. It has been described as the living will with a heart and soul.
Whether you’re anticipating a death through illness or age, or wanting to be prepared with the facts knowing death can come at any time, Oregon Funeral Resources & Education provides free, non-commercial information about Oregonians' legal rights and available resources when death occurs. A heartfelt thank you to Holly Pruett, a Life-Cycle Celebrant for co-developing this site of helpful Oregon-specific resources.
Kate Bowler
BJ Miller, MD
Internal medicine physician and founder of the End Well Project Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider talks about the taboo of death and dying among medical professionals and the importance of taking time to ask what really matters to you and your loved ones, while you still can. Via The Lion's Roar podcast.
1. What Alua has learned about living well from the many people she’s helped walk home as a death doula.
2. The “deathbed test” that guides her toward what is important and helps her stay present.
3. Alua eases Abby’s immense fear of death by sharing her glitter-wave vision.
4. The most surprising thing she wants us to know about death.
5. Concrete steps we can take now to help prepare ourselves–and our loved ones–for the inevitable.
Via the We Can Do Hard Things podcast with Glennon Doyle.
Shared courtesy of Fr. Larry Hansen