Family Support
How can Lakeland Hospice help our family through this difficult time?
One of the fundamental rules of Hospice is that the patient and the family are regarded as one unit. The well-being of the family is just as much a priority for us as the well-being of the patient. Our goal is to provide caregivers and family members with the tools to participate in the care of their loved one, and to help with the many stressful issues that arise at this time:
- Arranging family schedules so that the patient is not alone while maintaining the healthy lives of caregivers;
- Connecting families with the resources available to them;
- Helping the family understand the symptoms that accompany the end stages of illness and how we can alleviate those symptoms;
- Providing emotional and spiritual support as the disease progresses, through the dying process, and through the journey of grief;
- Education and resource materials on death and dying- we have an extensive collection of books, videos, and brochures that might be very helpful for families looking for further information and a new perspective.
Lakeland Hospice provides bereavement services for 13 months after the loss of a loved one. This includes personal visits, grief education, grief literature, and grief support groups.
RECOMMENDED READING
Sometimes the perspectives of others give us the best insight into our own experience. The staff of Lakeland Hospice find the following books particularly helpful, and are available for check-out from our resource library. Simply stop by our office to browse our collection of books and videos, or look for these titles at your local library or bookstore.
DYING WELL: PEACE AND POSSIBILITIES AT THE END OF LIFEBy Dr. Ira Byock
Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock’s dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, and conflict. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, talk to loved ones, and make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning.
FINAL GIFTS: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the DyingBy Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley
When someone we love is terminally ill, we are often unprepared to deal with the experience. But the dying have much to tell us and give to us. Final Gifts is a deeply moving, groundbreaking book that teaches us how to recognize and "decode" the often symbolic communications of those on the verge of death. In this humane, compassionate, and insightful approach to helping the dying, Callanan and Kelley show families, friends, and other caregivers how to listen to the dying, how to understand and accept what they wish or need to share, and how to learn from this awesome life event in ways that bring understanding, comfort, intimacy, and peace.
HAPPY ENDINGS: UPLIFTING END-OF-LIFE STORIESBy Lorna Bell, RN
Happy Endings is a collection of stories about people who said goodbye in a unique and uplifting way. These 40 stories invite you to reexamine your own perception of death. And they remind us that, even though our time on earth is temporary, our existence is not.
THE FOUR THINGS THAT MATTER MOST By Dr. Ira Byock, MD
Four simple phrases- "Please forgive me", "I forgive you", "Thank you", and "I love you"- carry enormous power. In many ways, they contain the most powerful words in our language. These four phrases provide us with a clear path to emotional wellness; They guide us through the thickets of interpersonal difficulties to a conscious way of living that is full of integrity and grace.