When patients don’t stipulate their healthcare wishes in an advanced directive, families will have to use their own discernment to make decisions about the loved one’s care plan. This can be kindling for some sharp disagreements and tough conversations. Even families with great relationships can struggle to make these kinds of decisions. However hard, these decisions need to be made in a timely manner to provide the proper level of care for the patient.

To help families negotiate these decisions, hospices will provide a social worker and chaplain who can offer advice and counsel families through this difficult time. One of the most important things to do during this time is to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. It might seem inefficient to seek so many opinions, but it’s vital that everyone who cares for the patient feels like they’re opinion matters.

Holding family meetings instead of playing phone tag is a great way to make the process run more smoothly. Getting everyone in the same room lets ideas and emotions flow organically and typically renders a final decision faster than other options.

Setting an agenda and appointing a facilitator for these meetings will be of great benefit. Doing so gives needed structure to a chaotic and confusing time for the family. However, don’t be afraid to go off script a little to validate other people’s emotions. Family members will likely be feeling emotions they’re not used to dealing with and you don’t want to overlook that.

Although it would be nice, not all decisions will be unanimous. People will disagree with others, and that’s okay. Go with the majority and do what you can to build consensus with the dissenting members. Let them know you appreciate their input and want to keep them involved in the process with future decisions that need to be made.

We have trained staff members ready to help families in times like this at Cura-HPC. If your loved one is in need of hospice care, please give us a call. 

When a family member requires around the clock care, it can put a lot of stress on family members. Caregiving is often a full-time job, and when you’re a full-time caregiving on top of working your regular full-time job, stress, anxiety, and depression can easily creep in. This can test caregivers’ physical and emotional boundaries.

High levels of stress and fatigue associated with caregiving are so common that the term caregiving burnout was coined. This condition is incredibly common among family members who are acting as their dying loved one’s sole caregiver.

Every situation will be different, and the size of the family can have a big impact on caregiver burnout. When there are multiple family members willing to pitch in and help take care of the dying loved one, caregiver burnout tends to be less of a risk. On the other side of the coin, higher rates of burnout are seen when only one or two adult children are taking care of a dying parent.

How to Avoid Burnout

There are two steps that must be taken to avoid caregiver burnout – get help and don’t feel guilty. If you’re feeling like you’re getting burnt out, you probably are. This means it’s time to get some extra help. The good news is that there’s a good chance of qualifying for financial assistance through Medicare. Acknowledging the negative effects of caregiver burnout, Medicare offers caregiver support through home health aides and skilled nursing at a free or reduced cost.

Not feeling guilty is the second step to take, and it’s not as easy as you might think. While caregivers might fantasize about having a night off, they often feel guilty about not being with their loved one once they finally get one. It’s important to understand they your loved one is in good hands and will be taken care of. You don’t have to be by their side 24/7. 

The funeral traditions in the states have stayed the same for many years now. We have a viewing, possibly a religious ceremony, and then a graveside service if the body will be buried. Cremation is also an option for those who don’t like the idea of a coffin. Keeping things the same might sound cliché to some, but it’s actually pretty helpful to have a sense of familiarity when families are going through a difficult, and often unfamiliar, time.

The funeral traditions in America were established over many years and, while they seem normal to us, they are quite different than funeral traditions around the world. Below is a small sample of some unique funeral traditions found in other cultures.

Jazz Funerals

We’re not going too far away from home for this first one. Down in the Big Easy a jazz funeral is a common site. This tradition became popular in New Orleans thanks to the mix of African and European cultures in the city. A jazz funeral starts with a march led by family, friends, and a brass band and ends at the cemetery. The band will play somber music, called a dirge, during the march, but will switch to more upbeat music once the procession leaves the gravesite. The purpose of switching to upbeat music is to have a lively celebration of the life of the deceased.

Custom Coffins

There isn’t a lot of coffin design variation in America, but that’s not the case in Ghana. In this little African country coffins are custom made to reflect the deceased’s personality and hobbies. A coffin can be in the shape of a race car, animal, shoes, airplanes and just about anything that can be made out of wood. Making these custom coffins can take months, which often delays funerals.

Burial Beads

Due to limited cemetery space in South Korea, the price of a burial is incredibly expensive. This high price tag forces most families to cremate their loved ones, but the ashes are made into colorful and decorative beads instead of keeping the ashes in an urn. Families can display these beads around the home. 

Tree Burial

Living trees serve as a burial site in certain regions of the Philippines. When a member of the community is nearing death, they will pick a tree in the forest and their family members will build a hut next to it. The dying person will live in this hut while their family works to hollow out a space in the trunk of the tree. Once the loved one has died, they will be vertically entombed in the trunk of the tree. 

The new year is almost here and people everywhere are making resolutions to improve their lives. Those with terminally ill loved ones should take this opportunity to make resolutions to not only improve their own quality of life, but also their loved one’s quality of life. Here are a few easy ways you can commit to improving the care you give your loved one.

Just Talk

One of the easiest ways you can have a big impact on a terminally ill patient is just talking with them. It might seem hard to talk with your loved one, especially if they have a weakening voice or dementia, but verbal interaction can lift spirits and improve mental health.

Aim Small

Caring for a terminally ill patient can be exhausting and it’s easy for little things to go unnoticed. However, taking care of minor issues can make a world of difference for the patient. A minor issue that goes unnoticed all too often is hydration. Ensuring your loved one is drinking enough water can improve the effectiveness of treatments across the board.

Be Adaptive

One of the most important parts of end of life care is allowing the patient to still do the activities they enjoy. Due to the limitations of their illness, you’ll most likely have to get creative and adapt their favorite activities. For example, if your loved one loves going to baseball games, but can’t make it to the stadium anymore, watch the game on TV and make it feel like the stadium. Get everyone to wear hats and jerseys, grill hot dogs, take a seventh-inning stretch, and heckle the opposing batters.

As you can see, hospice care new year’s resolutions don’t have to involve a lot of effort or time to achieve. It’s really just about being aware of how little changes can add up to a big difference. What resolutions are you setting this year? 

More than 54 million Americans over the age of 50 have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. This disease causes the bones to be brittle and fragile as a result of low mass and tissue. In a healthy body, the bone tissue is constantly being broken down (a process called resorbed) and then reformed. This process happens so frequently that healthy bodies actually replace their entire skeleton every 10 years.

As our bodies grow during our childhood, our bones reform faster than they resorb. However, this imbalance switches when osteoporosis hits later in life. This disease occurs most frequently in older women, causing one in two women to break a bone as a result of osteoporosis.

Risk Factors

The National Osteoporosis Foundation has identified several key lifestyle factors that can increase the chances of developing osteoporosis. Two of the biggest risk factors are lack of exercise and calcium in your daily diet.

Our bones become stronger in response to strength training like lifting weights. Those who do not engage in regular exercise and lead sedimentary lifestyles can increase their chances of an osteoporosis diagnosis. Our bones also need a steady supply of calcium to support the reforming process. Regularly eating calcium-rich foods like yogurt, almonds, and milk can be a great defense against osteoporosis. Other risk factors include smoking, having one or more alcoholic beverage a day, and consuming more than 30oz of coffee a day.

Prevention

As with most diseases, the best way to prevent osteoporosis is as simple as a healthy diet and regular exercise. As stated above, weight training and a calcium-rich diet are the best way to curb the effects of osteoporosis. It’s never too early to start thinking about osteoporosis prevention, especially for young women. Taking steps at a young age to prevent osteoporosis is much easier than trying to treat the symptoms after the disease has set in.