You’re Not a Terrible Person If You’ve Secretly Wished Your Ill Loved One Could Die
Every so often, someone will admit that they secretly wish the person they’re caring for would pass away. Often, this person is sick, suffering,...
Death and dying
Why Caregivers Shouldn’t Feel Guilty About Calling Hospice
A billboard in my city carries a simple message: “Most families say, ‘Why did we wait so long to call hospice?’ “ When I...
Caregiver Guilt: How to Stop Feeling Guilty About Elderly Parents
Get used to it – the guilt, I mean. The incessant phone call thing was just one of the many games I had to...
Family Disagrees about Moving Widowed Mom Weeks After Husband’s Death
Dear Carol: Dad died two weeks ago at 89 years of age. Mom is 87 and has what they think is early-stage Alzheimer’s. She’s...
Ways to Minimize Grief for a Surviving Spouse with Dementia
Deciding whether to tell someone who is cognitively impaired that their spouse has died is a serious and often recurring struggle. Dementia and death...
The Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease: Ways To Measure May Change, but the Disease Remains the Same
When I wrote this article, seven stages were considered the standard way to evaluate people living with Alzheimer’s. Now, it’s more common to have...
Hospice Care: Help During End Stages of Life
Each time I walked into Dad’s room in the nursing home, he would be rigid in bed, propped up on one elbow and slamming...
Music-Thanatology: Providing Harmony at the End of Life
The mission of hospice providers is to help people live their last months or weeks of life in the most comfortable, dignified, and satisfying...
When Loved Ones Rally Before Death
Family members are often relieved and hopeful when a dying loved one suddenly becomes more aware of their surroundings or begins talking or eating...
Why So Many Long-Married Couples Die Close Together
While death rarely brings pleasant feelings, from time to time we’ll see a story about death go viral on the Internet because it touches...
