hospice rowan

“When my mother was in the hospice home after her stroke, one of the things that truly brightened her day was a visit from the dogs that come with their owners to volunteer, visiting the patients,” said Jeanne Milholland.

If your parent recently received a diagnosis of cancer, you both may be feeling stunned, anxious, and overwhelmed. Here are tips to help. Lay a foundation for the journey to come.

If you are supporting a seriously ill family member, your relative's condition and needs could change at any time. Such uncertainty creates practical problems. (You may suddenly need to leave work to take him or her to the doctor.) It also comes with an emotional cost. Doubts and the unpredictable can be hard to bear. You may put off decisions because you are not sure exactly how things will turn out. You may even find yourself wishing for something to happen right now, just to end the uncertainty.

One of the comforts at a time of death is knowing you are memorializing your relative according to his or her wishes. But there can be discomfort in bringing up the topic for discussion in advance. Getting started Choose a time when both of you are relaxed and don’t have other pressing business. Use a soft start to bring up the subject.

The period of mourning is a time when our thinking processes are interrupted. People who are grieving often find themselves unable to concentrate for long periods of time. They may go into a room and forget why they went there, or they feel generally disoriented and confused. These behaviors are a normal part of the process and not something that is likely to continue at the same intensity for months on end. Still, it is unsettling while it is happening.

If you are helping a relative downsize for a move, it is often helpful to sort belongings into four categories: items to keep items to throw away items to sell items to give to charity Items to keep and to throw away have obvious action steps. If you have a lot to dispose of, ask the local waste hauler to drop a debris box at the curb. Be sure to shred anything that includes personal identification information.

Has your loved one ever flatly rejected your perfectly sensible solution to their problem? Though your idea may seem like the obvious route to take, it’s not so simple when you’re caring for an older adult. Your loved one has had a lifetime of making his or her own choices. If a decision must be made, start with one simple principle: Take your eye off the goal. Focus on the process instead. We all want to be treated like people rather than like a project in need of completion.

Who wants to go to the ER? No one! But sometimes, distressing symptoms or illnesses arise that require prompt attention and your regular doctor is not available.

The death of a loved one and the grief that comes with it often destroys dreams—dreams of what could have been, dreams of what should have been.  Grief often destroys hope, as well.  The Hospice Healing Build, a new and meaningful partnership between two local non-profit organizations, Habitat for Humanity and Hospice & Palliative CareCenter, seeks to help bereaved members of our community rebuild hope by providing active and meaningful ways to process grief.  “We tend to think of grief as only an emotional experience

Once a year, encourage your relative to see the doctor for an “Annual Wellness Visit.” The purpose of this free exam is to catch emerging health problems early on. Identifying changes in thinking or memory is a primary reason for the visit. If the doctor detects problems, your relative will receive further tests. Screening for memory loss is invaluable. It can help