We’re deep diving into advance care planning with hospice Social Worker Rosie Gaston, talking about diagnosis specific advance directives. With diseases like Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia on the rise, the need to plan for end of life situations for neurodegenerative diagnoses is increasing. It’s hard to predict every scenario, but considering basic care needs and wants is important. Some of the things that should be considered include where the person wants to live out their life, what treatments they want/don’t want, who’ll be the primary caregiver, and how care will be paid for. A dementia specific directive might include directions about treating infections like UTI’s and pneumonia, and choices about feeding, feeding tubes, and VSED options.

Even though it’s not possible to think of every situation that might happen, it’s important to have conversations about needs, wants, and wishes for end of life. Be specific. Those conversations can make decisions so much easier when a crisis arises later in the disease trajectory. Have the conversations early - and often!

Connect with Rosie Gaston, MSW, LICSW, APHSW-C: www.ABetterEnding.org Socials for Rosie Gaston: IG

RESOURCES:

• End of Life Choices New York dementia advance directive resource
• Compassion and Choices Dementia Priorities and Values Tool
• The Conversation Project handout for caregivers for someone with Alzheimer’s and other dementias

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.

There isn’t a greeting card for every type of grief. Dr. Ken Doka joins the podcast in this episode to talk about anticipatory and disenfranchised grief. Before death even occurs, people are grieving - anticipating the loss of identity, functional ability, roles, and relationships as well as the actual loss that comes with death itself. This kind of grief is felt by both the person who’s dying and the caregivers and family. Disenfranchised grief occurs when the relationship with the deceased person wasn’t one that’s recognized by society, and can't be publically mourned. Ex-spouses, abusive and estranged relationships can all be situations of disenfranchised grief. It can be difficult to find support for grief like this, making the griever feel isolated. Disenfranchised grief can be more complicated than grief related to healthy and close relationships.

If you need information about grief, check out the Hospice and Grief Info section of the Hospice Foundation of America’s website. Website: hospicefoundation.org Research on grieving: hospicefoundation.org/research-on-grief-and-grieving Grief and other types of loss: hospicefoundation.org/grief-and-other-types-of-loss Facebook: www.facebook.com/hospicefoundation Instagram: www.instagram.com/hfahospice X: x.com/hfahospice

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.

Social Worker Rosie Gaston talks about getting back to the basics of what matters most to start an advance care plan. Reflecting on values and beliefs is a great starting place. The next step is having conversations with people who matter most to us (along with healthcare providers) to communicate the kind of care we want when our bodies begin to shut down, and what embodies quality of life. When should we make an advance care plan? Rosie recommends anyone over 18 make an ACP and revisit it whenever there’s a life change. End of life wishes change and ACP should change to stay in alignment with who we are. Getting a life-altering or serious diagnosis, changing marital status, or having a change in healthcare provider are all milestones where review of an advance care plan should happen. Have the conversations early, have them often.

Connect with Rosie Gaston, MSW, LICSW, APHSW-C: www.ABetterEnding.org Socials for Rosie Gaston: IG

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer

Website: theheartofhospice.com

Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn

Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com

More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.

Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden is using TikTok to teach over 1 million followers what death really looks like. As a nurse with 15 years of experience in end of life care, she’s seen all the ups and downs of community-based bedside hospice care. Julie also spent years working in ICU, and learned the intense needs of the dying. Her book Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully prepares readers for death and dying, with stories interwoven throughout. Her newest book is The Nothing to Fear Journal: Questions and Reflections for Demystifying and Preparing for the End of Life. The journal has four sections that give prompts to help the user’s writing process. The sections cover anything and everything related to dying, including beliefs and fears, how to have end of life conversations, ways to ask for help, and practical tips for planning your own end of life experience. Who should read the books? Hospice Nurse Julie says they’re for anyone who’s going to die.

Links to Hospice Nurse Julie’s book, journal, socials, and website: Nothing to Fear The Nothing to Fear Journal https://www.hospicenursejulie.com/ https://www.instagram.com/hospicenursejulie https://www.tiktok.com/@hospicenursejulie https://www.youtube.com/@hospicenursejulie https://www.facebook.com/people/Hospice-nurse-julie/100077937666311

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer

Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.

Palliative Care Chaplain Cody Hufstedler shares the end of life experiences of his patients and their families using compassion, healthy boundaries, and a little bit of humor. After 12 years of working as a chaplain, he’s seen the best and worst of death and dying. Cody believes his job is to help people work through changes when bad news happens, and help them pivot back to the values they hold most dear. He’s stepping into the place where panic happens and works to be the calm inside the chaos.

As host of The Dying to Tell You Podcast, Cody features one-on-one conversations with guests who are living with a serious illness—including cancer, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), Alzheimer's disease, brain cancer, multiple myeloma, and other terminal diagnoses. These aren't patients of his; ethical boundaries are carefully maintained. These are intimate dialogues with people from across the country and around the world who are willing to share their experiences with mortality. Listen to The Dying to Tell You Podcast Check out The Caring Perspective Podcast here and here.

Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer

Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.