Something to Think About

Question: What is a Hospice House? In England during the 1970’s, where the hospice model originated, hospice care was provided not in a person’s home but in a freestanding building...

QUESTION: Talk about denial. All of us deny the realities of life to some degree. The operative words here are “to some degree.” Some of us rely on denial more...

Question: What are your ideas for supporting and learning from other members of the hospice team? Life today seems so hectic. We are balancing career, family, social and often civic...

“Therapy” was put in the “What to talk about” section of this web site. I am not sure of the meaning of this request. There are many kinds of therapy:...

QUESTION: Do dementia patients have fears different from the rest of the community? (Included with the question submitted to BKB): Response from the Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Support Forum FTD Response:...

Question? Anger at the dying loved one for things you feel she could have done that would have kept her healthy longer. Anger that she feels back at you for...

Question: I wanted to know more about your thoughts in regards to the role of Social Work in Hospice care including bereavement services. An interesting question since over the years...

Question: Will you talk about sedation at the end of life? There is a misconception that dying is painful therefore pain medicine/narcotics should be used routinely in the last days...

Question: Write something about the need for people to lose their negative attitudes about people who have “certain” diseases: HIV, cirrhosis, hepatitis, B&C, lung cancer. I’m not sure I am...

Question: Who decides it is time for you to die? Do we have input to this? Do we control our passing? I don’t know the answer to those questions. I’m...

Dying is not a medical situation. In the hours to minutes, often even days before death, we don’t need medical assistance. We don’t need doctors or nurses or hospitals or...

Question: My 87 year old father has cancer and about six months to live. He will not tell his wife (my mother) or my sister who lives close by and...

Most people diagnosed with a life threatening illness think about suicide. Suicidal thoughts are normal thoughts in someone who has been told they can’t be fixed. We think about it...

Caring for someone with a life threatening illness is more than just providing physical care 24/7. It is emotionally draining. All sorts of feelings seem to surface that, once there,...

Being active helps us poop therefore the less active we are, and people approaching the end of their life through disease or old age gradually have less and less energy...

Comment: “My son has died!” You have been with people when they die. Your book, The Final Act of Living, talks about body and spirit. How do you know? I...

We live inside of our bodies so it is no secret to us when death from disease or old age is close. We may not share the knowledge with anyone...

Frequently I will hear a person say “I am ready to die,” “I just want to die,” “Why am I not dead yet?” or “Why is this taking so long?”...

I have been at the bedside of many, many people at their exact moment of death. Those people have taught me what happens in the hours to minutes before death....

What do you want me to write about? Getting a terminally ill patient to accept hospice care that is being offered to them. They really need it. Hospice has a...

What would you like me to write about? Bargaining--the patient (with terminal brain cancer) trying to find a cure; trying to find holistic cures to save his life and spending...