Tag Archives: End-of-life care

High-Intensity Rehabilitation Services Overused in Nursing Homes, Study Shows

Patients are receiving burdensome and unnecessary therapies at the end of life

A recent study shows that many U.S.nursing homes are providing unnecessary — and extremely lucrative — rehabilitation services to patients at the end of life. The rate of these “ultra-high intensity” services increased 65 percent between 2012 and 2015 in … Continue reading

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How Has End-of-Life Care Changed?

An interview with Barbara Karnes, nurse, author, and end-of-life educator, Part Two

In this second part of a two part interview, I sit down with award winning author, nurse, and end-of-life educator, Barbara Karnes, to talk about her experiences with hospice and end-of-life care. Among many other end-of-life works, Barbara wrote the famous”Gone … Continue reading

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Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?

Too many families are torn apart when a loved one is dying

Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven. ~Michelangelo Last week, I learned that my 90-year-old aunt was in the hospital with pneumonia and sepsis. This is her second admission in a little less … Continue reading

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What is the Sacred Dying Foundation? An Interview with Megory Anderson

Bringing sacredness and a spiritual element to the end-of-life experience

Megory Anderson is the founder of the Sacred Dying Foundation, an organization designed to bring sacredness and a spiritual element to the end-of-life experience. She is a theologian, educator, liturgist and author of the books Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for … Continue reading

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San Francisco’s Zen Hospice Has Closed Its Doors

After 30 years, the hospice has succumbed to budget woes

One of San Francisco’s oldest and most revered inpatient hospices closed its doors this month. Already, the old Victorian building on Page Street that housed the Zen Hospice Project is empty and bare. The furniture is gone, the floors are … Continue reading

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Music Therapy Can Help Make a Person’s Last Days More Peaceful

Music has healing powers that should not be overlooked

I have always been interested in the benefits of music therapy. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Portia Diwa, who plays the harp for people who are ill, injured or dying. Portia said that one of … Continue reading

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