"Palliative Care is an often misunderstood specialty, focused on providing support and pain management strategies to cancer patients throughout all stages of their illness. This approach, which can be blended into curative cancer therapy, focuses on care for the whole person: mind, body, and spirit."
Source: Cancer Mythbusters - Is Palliative Care Only for End-of-Life Patients?
Palliative Care is the future of medicine "It has social and political dimensions that spring from its grounding in a commitment to relieve total pain, which includes spiritual pain."
" Families with unfinished business had significantly higher depression and grief scores after bereavement compared with those without."
Source: Unfinished Business in Families of Terminally Ill with Cancer Patients
"I tell them that it’s never my goal to glamorize death or tell people how they should or shouldn’t feel about death. I only hope my writing gives people permission to broach the topic."
Source: YES, I WRITE ABOUT DEATH: ON THE WAYS PEOPLE RESPOND TO A “DEATH JOB” AND HOW I HANDLE IT
"I cannot control their world, nor prevent them from all harm. All I can do is try and focus on the now. Focus on what matters... And love them. I can love them in every way I know how."
Source: “We know nothing about what is next”—Lessons on Loving & Losing a Child.
"There is a cultural narrative that tells us that bad things don’t happen to good people. As a result, we spend a lot of time protecting kids from natural life events, like death."
Source: Joe Primo on Supporting Grieving Children. Option B
"All three of us work to maintain balance — knowing when we need to flex and when we need to release, when to put pain first and when to let it fade into the moment."
"Palliative care is the stance of being comfortable with the unknown, a stance that leads to the development of confidence, resilience, and empowerment in patients and families receiving the best care... we are all vulnerable, all subject to suffering, old age, and death..."
"The medicalization of death had arrived, one which for better or worse continues to shape how we die today."
Highlighting the need for integrated Person and Family-Centred Care...
"The results show that there might be a gap between what doctors think is important or disturbing for patients, and what patients really think. Physical, psychological, social and spiritual support is needed at every stage of the disease"
Source: Patients feel psycho-social impact of chemo more acutely than physical side effects. MedicalXpress
"This one page handout provides an overview of the findings from a research study of parent caregivers. The study was conducted as a collaboration between Dr. Jay Children`s Grief Centre and the Nanny Angel Network"
Source: Parenting Through Illness & Grief. Canadian Virtual Hospice
" 'Virtually all children will go through it — but that doesn't mean it's a normalizing experience,' says Dr. David Schonfeld, an expert on student grief and a driving force behind the new website. 'Even though it's common, it warrants our attention.' "
The Coalition to Support Grieving Students. A brilliant and essential collaboration to support #grieving #children #youth #teens
"...a groundbreaking, practitioner-oriented website designed to provide educators with the information, insights, and practical advice they need to better understand and meet the needs of the millions of grieving kids..."
"In the years since we have worked with countless clients and families whose loved ones died at home. Some were anticipated hospice deaths. Others were unexpected, some traumatic. No matter the type of loss, time and again we hear people share their feelings that the deaths that occur in the home resides in the space. Even with the best and most dignified and supported of deaths, these memories and feelings in the space can sometimes feel overwhelming to manage.
We wish you could provide you the magic answer. We wish we had checklist of solutions that would clear your space of the difficult death memories to open the space for all the other, wonderful memories. Sadly, that isn’t how it works. What we can do is talk about some suggestions, tips, and ideas and think through the benefits and considerations..."
Source: When Death Moves In: grief after a death in the home. What's your Grief
"Yet, amidst the storm, some remarkable health professionals create a circle of calm. They go about their work in an unhurried way, finding time to greet their patients, put them at ease, listening deeply and offering kindness and compassion. They don’t neglect their clinical tasks, indeed they seem to get the work done with quiet efficiency. These inspiring workers go home with satisfaction and joy in their hearts. How is that possible?"
Source: Hearts in Healthcare Practising compassion in an uncompassionate health system
Am honoured to have been a guest panelist on the final instalment of Death: A Part of Life - Part 5: The Grieving Process.
This informative 5-Part radio series with the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice aired on CHML 900. Each week panelists including caregivers and healthcare professionals convened to open up a conversation about dying, death, grief and loss. The series explores issues such as: coping with the diagnosis of a serious illness; demystifying hospice palliative care; exploring available supports and services; advance care planning; the dying process and grieving which ultimately impacts us all.
The links to the podcasts of Death: A Part of Life are listed below:
Death, A Part Of Life - Part 1: Palliative Care.
It’s a fact of life that at one point we all will die. But is it all as simple as that? Bill Kelly and the Bob Kemp hospice will be discussing grief, relief and the acceptance of passing away. On today’s show we discuss what happens when you’re told you don’t have much time left, and whether healthcare is asking too much of caregivers, and whether people are prepared for palliative care.
Death, A Part Of Life - Part 2: Changes To Palliative Care.
For our second show, we will discuss what the palliative care system is now, how it works and what changes need to be made. What does one of our local MPPs hear from his constituents about healthcare and in particular, palliative care? How would changes affect patients? Does fear have a hold on how we make our decisions once we’re diagnosed as palliative? An example of this is whether to choose palliative care or medically assisted death.
Death, A Part Of Life - Part 3: Religion and Palliative Care.
We continue our series this week with two topics. The first one will be discussing the experience of death. Everyone treats death in our world differently. But is it strictly a medical experience or is it a spiritual one? In our second half, we will talk about access to palliative care services in various sectors of our society. How do we help the vulnerable and the community obtain access to proper palliative care?
Death: A Part of Life - Part 4: Bucket lists and preparation.
Life should be celebrated at all stages, whether it be infancy, adulthood and as life comes to a close. So how can we make the most out of life? How can those who are in palliative care achieve their “bucket list” dreams before they pass, and how does it apply when it comes to their own personal circumstances? How do we define a “bucket list”? How wise is it to be prepared for eventual health issues? How should we plan for advanced care and how does it affect the family? How do we navigate through the difficult decisions and pain to provide care for loved ones who are palliative?
Death: A Part of Life - Part 5: The grieving process.
The final instalment in our series sees us discussing grief and how this isn’t just an event that happens in life but a process that families have to go through. How do families grieve the loss of a loved one? How can we support one another and how does grief affect children?
Source: Global News. AM 900 CHML
Am honoured to volunteer with Camp Erin. It is indeed a remarkable community and one that nurtures capacity in children and youth to grieve the death of a loved one.
"Children and teens ages 6-17 attend a transformational weekend camp that combines traditional, fun camp activities with grief education and emotional support, free of charge for all families. Led by grief professionals and trained volunteers, Camp Erin provides a unique opportunity for youth to increase levels of hope, enhance self-esteem, and especially to learn that they are not alone.
Camp Erin is offered in every Major League Baseball city as well as additional locations across the U.S. and Canada. The Moyer Foundation partners with hospices and bereavement organizations to bring hope and healing to thousands of grieving children and teens each year.
Camp Erin allows youth to:
Source: Camp Erin. The Moyer Foundation
For information on Camp Erin locations in Ontario, please visit: Camp Erin Hamilton; Camp Erin Toronto; Camp Erin Eastern Ontario; Camp Erin Montreal
"Being caring and listening with a non-judgemental ear are far more likely to reduce distress than exacerbate it." https://iasp.info/wspd2017/
For support and resources please see:
World Suicide Prevention Day at https://iasp.info/wspd2017/
Canadian Mental Health Association at http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/suicide/Pages/default.aspx
"When you are facing a serious illness, you need relief from symptoms. You need to better understand your condition and choices for care. You need to improve your ability to tolerate medical treatments. And, you and your family need to be able to carry on with everyday life. This is what palliative care can do." #SeriousIllness #PalliativeCare
For more information visit Get Palliative Care
"We strongly believe that the Camp Erin experience is life-changing. Family members and caregivers experiencing their own grief, while simultaneously helping their child to grieve, are often overwhelmed and feel helpless. Grief left unchecked can lead to depression, behavioural issues, suicide and substance abuse.
Much of what is addressed at camp is the isolation kids feel around their grief; it is a poignant experience for the campers to have the chance to go away for three days, (oftentimes, these kids have never been up north) with other people their own age, forming a bond over their loss. Camp Erin is a safe place for young people to identify with other kids who are feeling the same emotions, including anger, worry, guilt and often, a "Why me?" outlook.
When kids come back from camp, at ease and with the confidence to talk about their grief, it gets passed along to their parents."
Full article: Camp Erin offers a weekend for kids coping with loss
