February 2019 – The HPP Resource Center

Category: Archive: Feb 2019

Integrative Therapy: Compassionate Touch in Hospice Care

By Shannon Noble, Integrative Therapist and Volunteer Coordinator. This post has been adapted from The Hospice Team: Who We Are and How We Care. Over the years that I have worked in hospice services, first as an integrative therapist and then as a volunteer coordinator, the two most common responses when people learn about what I do for a living are, “It must be very depressing work,” or, “One must be an angel to work for hospice.” Both are untrue, and I hope, through my perspective working with hospice patients and their volunteers, to shed light on the…

Reframing Healing as a Physician in Hospice Care

This post was adapted from an essay appearing in The Hospice Team: Who We Are and How We Care. By Faustino Gonzalez, MD, Chief Medical Officer The concept of healing has always been associated with cure of disease. Healing is, in fact, the goal of medicine. As a physician trained in Internal Medicine, I spent the first fourteen years of my professional life applying my skills toward that goal. When I started working in hospice and palliative care, my focus became comfort and symptom control. Did I abandon my mandate? Did I fail Hippocrates? I do not think so. In his famous essay, from which…

It’s Time We Start Talking About Ageism

In this excerpt from her new book, Disrupting the Status Quo of Senior Living: A Mindshift, Jill Vitale-Aussem, President and CEO of The Eden Alternative, takes a serious and critical look at how we view aging. Society has condemned racism, sexism, classicism, and so on. It’s time we condemn ageism as well. We’re All Aging Right now, as you read this sentence, you’re aging. We all are—every minute of every day. In youth, the passing of a day, a month, or a year isn’t viewed as a negative because the passing of time means we’re growing up. And growing up…

Disrupting the Status Quo of Senior Living

In this interview with President and CEO of The Eden Alternative, Jill Vitale-Aussem discusses senior living, hospitality, ageism, and shifting our perspectives. In your book, Disrupting the Status Quo of Senior Living: A Mindshift, you discuss how the hospitality model in long-term care can actually be detrimental to residents, which many people don’t realize. Why is this? First, I need to explain that hospitality has a role to play in our field. We can learn a lot from hotels and resorts about welcoming guests and visitors. But…

How to Prevent Hypothermia in Older People

Harsh winter temperatures increase the risk of hypothermia in older people, which puts them in real danger of severe health problems such as heart attacks and kidney damage. When freezing conditions strike, it’s vital to know how to keep older relatives safe from hypothermia and what to do if you notice warning signs of a drop in their body temperature. This is a guest post by Michael Leavy, Managing Director of Home Healthcare Adaptations, a family-run company that specializes in adapting homes for the elderly and less abled. To learn more, visit…

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