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BARBARA BUSH: THE "ENFORCER"
OF DYING WITH
DIGNITY
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Last week Americans celebrated the life and death of former first lady Barbara Bush. As the matriarch of the Bush family dynasty, she
was fondly referred to as the "enforcer." This term of endearment gained her respect and served others in knowing what she demanded. "What Barbara says, goes" is the lesson we can all take to our graves. With bright gray hair and keen whit, Barbara Bush symbolized a woman who aged with grace and died with dignity.
Dignity can seem a vague term that’s better appreciated by the heart than explained by the mind. This "certainty of being right" is more intuitive than standardized. Dignity comes in all shapes and sizes, yet the key to Mrs. Bush’s dying with dignity was her final decision to not return to the hospital. With much discussion last week about advance care planning and the need for advance directives prompted by National Healthcare Decisions Day, Mrs.
Bush’s example provided a summary for "the rules" of dying with dignity.
MANY DOCTORS DON'T PAY ATTENTION
TO HOME HEALTH CARE PLANS
This article supports how government money is being spent needlessly on health care for seniors.
Skilled nursing at home is multifold: "For homebound patients who need support from nurses, physical therapists or occupational therapists to manage daily tasks and recover from injuries or illness." Why are physicians (who specialize in geriatrics, family or general medicine, or hospice and palliative care) being paid to oversee a nursing practice? Let nurses do what they do best – home care. Let doctors do what they do best – hospital care. "Approximately 80 percent of doctors said they never or only rarely changed an order for skilled home health care
services." Clearly, physicians are not adding anything to patient outcomes when they’re giving "no more than a cursory review of care plans." Meanwhile, Medicare is spending $17.7 billion on skilled home care for 3.4 million beneficiaries. "Plus, the plans don't emphasize the information that is most important for delivering high quality care to patients at home" (i.e. "person-centered" care rather than physician-directed care). Is Medicare acting in the best interest of the patient or the physician? Upcoming Speaking Dates Coming
Soon
JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED:
"NEW CAREGIVER" RESOURCE
GUIDE
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When you become a new caregiver, there is often a huge learning curve, especially when it comes to performing certain medical procedures. The A-Z Home Care Handbook: Health Management
How-Tos for Senior Caregivers offers tips and how-tos to help guide you through the health management tasks caregivers are most commonly responsible for performing. The book is due out Summer 2018.
I wish Harry’s book had been available when my mother was dealing with
visual impairment as she aged. A sample of Harry’s valuable information is posted on KevinHaselhorst.com
Is Palliative Care Right For YOU?
by Kevin J. Haselhorst,
MD Click here to purchase your copy
The key to making medical decisions
is
understanding palliative care:
Palliative Care is the
bridge between
advance care
and end-of-life care. When
you no longer have your health,
how will you spend your time and money?
Is quality of life more important than
staying alive at any cost?
This booklet will teach you: - What palliative care means in practical terms
- The value of making your own medical decisions
- How to gain peace of mind with chronic illness
Command respect during your next
doctor visit by saying,
"I receive palliative care."
Learn more at KevinHaselhorst.com
SHINING A LIGHT ON BEREAVEMENT
Shortly after my mother’s funeral, a hospice counselor inquired about my "bereavement" and offered her assistance. I only understood the word to mean sadness and had no idea how to gauge it. I was naturally shaken from my mother’s passing, but not sad. Despite great preparation for Mom’s departure, shock and awe existed with her actual "coming into glory."
A patient caught my attention when she misspoke about the recent "debreavement" (debridement) of her surgical wound. The act of removing crud from a wound to promote healing made me perceive bereavement differently. It’s become a nesting phase for me to create space for "thoughts and prayers," in addition to my own
reflections and acts of remembrance of mom.
I planned a Sedona getaway to get lost in my thoughts, see a psychic, take a hike and get everything out. Bereavement is like hiking back up a mountain following a landslide. There’s a strong motivation to get back on top while adjusting to the
new normal and terrain. After hiking for 4 hours with little food or water, I truly understood bereavement as exhaustion. I slept 9 hours that night! There’s no standard metric for bereavement, yet I gauge it on how many hours I sleep. Whereas I was getting 4-6 hours following mom’s death, I’m
happy to report to the hospice counselor that I’m now sleeping through the night.
How to Approach Living While
Dying
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Living While Dying
Please support this film that makes "living while dying" easier for everyone to engage.
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
May 14: Philadelphia - Lovett Library
May 15: New Hope-Kehilat Hanahar - pending
May 17: Pelham, NY The Picture House
May 18: NYC- The Institute of Dying at the Open Center
May 21: UAlbany @ 9AM
May 23: Brattleboro, VT
May 24: Portland, Maine
May 25: Maine lunch and learn - pending
May 29: Lebanon NH - pending
Immense Possibilities is a weekly public TV
and internet series that featured an interview with Cathy Zheutlin about Living While Dying.
Watch the interview: (10 minutes)
Watch on Vimeo
Cathy needs to raise more money for the music, the sound mix and the color corrections.
Please help get the word out to others you think
might want to back this project!
Only have time for 24 seconds?
As Cathy explores the reality of her loved ones facing death, she turns the camera around and looks at herself.
How will she approach living while dying?
The end result of the film is to have viewers ponder and pick their own rite of passage.
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