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News and Events

Annals of Medicine - The New Yorker - Aug. 2, 2010

Letting Go - What should medicine do when it can't save your life?

by Atul Gawande

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60 Minutes Re-broadcasts Segment on Costs of Care…

60 Minutes news correspondent Steve Kroft did a piece on costs of care at the end of life that was originally broadcast last November. NHPCO staff worked closely with CBS producers on the original segment which was re-broadcast last Sunday (08/08/10) with an additional update from Mr. Kroft. NHPCO provided information for the update.

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The New Grief

in The Huffington Post, says that the nature of grief has changed as “modern medicine …is getting better and better at staving off death.” Death has become “less and less a sudden and unexpected event,” and more a “process that begins with a diagnosis, proceeds through a period of treatment (or treatments), and ends eventually in death.” Patient and family must “live with death” for a longer period of time.

This new grief means dealing with changing relationships, coping with setbacks and remissions, talking about death, dealing with grief in the midst of busy lifestyles, and “confronting family issues that may have been dormant – but unresolved – for many years.” The new grief also “means moving forward together, potentially as a stronger and more resilient family, after a loved one passes.”

(The Huff ington Post, 8/14, www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nowinski-phd/the-new-grief-how-modern_b_677508.html)

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Free Guide for Families from the Alzheimer's Association - Greater Illinois Chapter

The Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter is offering a free online resource, Encouraging Comfort Care: A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities. This 21-page booklet provides useful information to families and staff of long-term care facilities about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, particularly care issues related to the late and final stages.

This guide will enable families to make informed choices about a variety of medical decisions they may face on behalf of loved ones with dementia living in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other types of care facilities. It also will help families ask good questions aimed at obtaining the best care for their loved ones, including a handy checklist of comfort care measures to be discussed with staff members of care facilities.

For staff members of long-term care facilities, the guide will serve as an important tool for those who wish to educate families and assist them in care planning. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to disseminate this booklet in electronic and print formats.

Encouraging Comfort Care was made possible through a generous grant from the Retirement Research Foundation to the Alzheimer’s Association-Greater Illinois Chapter.

To view and download the free guide, click here: www.alz.org/illinois

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Powerful Tools for Caregivers

Tuesdays, September 21 - October 26
11:30 am - 1 pm
DeKalb County Hospice Office

Are you a caregiver? A caregiver is someone who helps a relative or friend with the things that he or she cannot do due to the disabling effects of a chronic medical condition or age. Most people are caregivers at some point in their lives. It is often quite challenging trying to balance life as a caregiver; it can be stressful – physically, emotionally and financially.

DeKalb County Hospice is sponsoring a six week class, entitled Powerful Tools for Caregivers. Caregivers will learn how to reduce stress, improve self-confidence, better communicate feelings, and locate helpful resources. Attendees also learn how to increase their ability to make tough decisions and balance their lives.

The 90 minute sessions over the lunch hour are designed to be especially helpful for caregivers with limited time. There is no cost for class participation. Each participant receives a copy of The Caregiver Helpbook.

For more information or to register, contact Helen Maurer, L.C.S.W. or Val Heintz at DeKalb County Hospice, 815-756-3000. Class size is limited, advance registration needed.

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Direct Care Volunteer Training

Wednesdays, October 6 - November 17
1 - 4 pm
DeKalb County Hospice Office

Volunteers who work with patients and families serve on a regularly scheduled basis and provide the following:

• Support services - companionship, friendly visiting, active listening, bedside sitting, letter writing.
  
• Sharing hobbies and special interests -- reading, gardening, listening to music, sports, travel, crafts, etc.
  
• Assisting with errands - grocery shopping, picking up prescriptions and supplies, banking.
  
• Transport patient/family - appointments, shopping, social outings.
  
• Homemaking tasks - light housekeeping, dishes, laundry, meal preparation.
  

Thomas Attig says, “Presence is one of the most precious things we can give one another.” One of the most important things a volunteer can do is just "be there" for patients to reassure them they are not alone, to hold a hand, to offer a smile, or to just listen. It is not easy work, but the personal rewards are enormous. The strength and courage of patients provide a constant source of inspiration, and volunteers usually feel they gain more than they have been able to give. The inner knowledge and satisfaction a volunteer receives from knowing they've made a real difference in the life of a patient or family is what makes being a hospice volunteer special. To be invited into the last months, weeks, and days of a person's life is an honor and a privilege.

If you are interested in becoming a Direct Care Volunteer or would like to learn more information about what it means to work with people in the late stages of their lives, consider joining us for our next volunteer orientation/training.

To find out more information about the training or to register for the 7 week session, please call Val Heintz at 815-756-3000 or email her at vheintz@kishhospital.org.