Literature Review

‘Memory Makers’ helps grieving children and teens in AugustaWRDW-TV (Augusta, GA), 12/22/23Augusta, GA—A new program is giving kids and teens a better way to handle grief, and it won’t cost you anything. The holidays can bring on heavy emotions, not just for adults who’ve lost a loved one, but for children too. The program is called Memory Makers. It’s held at Affinis Hospice on Walton Way, and it’s for ages 4 to 17. Volunteer Coordinator Jessica Hands says she started Memory Makers because her father died when she was 15. Her goal is to help create a safe space so young people can give their pain a purpose. “This space kind of gives them the opportunity to scream. We scream. We have torn paper up and thrown it to let our anger out. We laugh, we cry. It gives them a space to do all of that without worrying about how it may impact someone else’s emotions,” she said.

Carolina Caring empowers hospice patient to revisit favorite pastimeMcDowell (NC) News, 12/22/23Carolina Caring’s compassionate hospice and palliative care empowers patients to make the most of each day as they navigate serious illness. Our patient, Barbara, has been under hospice care with Carolina Caring and has shared much about her life with her favorite Nurse, Kelly Avery, and Social Worker, Megan Elmore. She shared that her fondest memories were of fishing with her family on Lake Hickory. ... Avery and Elmore coordinated with the Carolina Caring Volunteer and Foundation Departments to secure fishing licenses and gather together a spread of Barbara’s favorite foods at Dallas Park & Recreation ponds.

Third of patients given lethal drugs under right-to-die laws ‘do not take them’The Telegraph (England), 12/23/23More than a third of suicidal patients who are prescribed lethal drugs under right-to-die laws do not take them, data show. Just 1,905 of the 2,895 people prescribed assisted dying pills in Oregon, US, between 1998 and 2021 took them, according to the state’s public health data. The figures are mirrored in the neighbouring state of California, where in 2021, 286 of the 772 people prescribed a fatal dose ultimately decided against using it. Even in Canada, where medically-assisted deaths are the most pervasive and accepted in the world, around 13,000 people of the 15,500 with lethal drug prescriptions in 2022 used them—and around 300 people changed their mind. Experts consider the Oregon model, whereby a doctor specialising in end-of-life care prescribes a deadly drug to be taken at home by a patient, as the best option for Britain, should MPs vote for a change in the law.

Give one person a compliment today. Tomorrow, only if feeling wild abandon, give two.

Hospice office still has holiday cheer after real-life GrinchWRDW-TV (Augusta, GA), 12/22/23Augusta, GA—Someone stole a Christmas tree from the lawn of the Affinis Hospice office on Walton Way. They moved into this location in November, and since they had a nice front lawn, they decided to spread Christmas cheer into their new neighborhood. “We were really excited to put the Santa Claus out there. We had a tree we had all sorts of, but we even decorated the tree with ornaments and lights,” said Community Care Liaison for Affinis Hospice, Sara Simmons. They put up everything on Friday. The tree didn’t even last for a weekend. “We came in Monday morning, and our tree was gone. So somebody swiped the tree,” said Simmons. She said that evidence around the scene showed the tree was stolen. “I was furious,” Simmons said. “We put so much into getting these decorations, and we were so excited to be in this brand new neighborhood, new area and somebody took our tree.” ... “We thought if somebody else needed that tree, maybe there’s others who also need trees,” she said. They’ve been working as a middleman to get people whatever they need to brighten their holiday season. “If people have extra trees, which they were already offering to us, you’re welcome to bring them here. And then we’ll advertise and let other people know ‘Hey, you’re welcome to come here and get whatever you need.’ We’re here for you,” she said.

HomeCare & Hospice’s move into Motherhouse a promising partnershipOlean (NY) Times Herald, 12/21/23Allegany, NY—The association of Community Care of Western New York and the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany will grow even closer after Christmas when HomeCare & Hospice resumes its operations at the St. Elizabeth Motherhouse.

The meaning behind the 3.5-mile Lake Park Light ShowWFLA-TV (Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL), 12/23/23Largo, FL—A Pinellas County neighborhood is sure to make your spirits high with its extraordinary effort to make an extravagant light show. Growing every year, the Lake Park Estates community’s light show off Bryan Dairy Road in Largo is now 3.5 miles long. Neighbors have come together for 30 years now to make it happen.

Cuba quietly authorizes euthanasiaReuters, 12/22/23Havana, Cuba—Cuba on Friday became the second country in Latin America and the Caribbean to authorize euthanasia, following Colombia. The Communist-run country’s National Assembly passed the measure as part of legislation updating the nation’s legal framework for its universal and free healthcare system.

The Corvallis group singing by the bedsides of the dying and grievingCorvallis (OR) Gazette-Times, 12/23/23Nearing the end of a long career as an educator at Corvallis’ Garfield Elementary, Susan Breckenridge began searching for post-retirement activities that she could do with others and still be in service to her community. Around this time, a friend who played the harp for a hospice organization told her about the Threshold Choir. Breckenridge had never heard about it before, but that evening she went online to read about the group. The volunteers sing at the bedsides of the dying and grieving, to be a source of comfort. “I was like, that’s it! That’s what I’ve been looking for: something that I can be in service to others and use my singing voice,” Breckenridge said on a Zoom call. Now-retired physician David Grube said he’d first learned about the choir while attending a “compassion and choices” lecture in Portland.

Family Caregivers Far Prefer Hospital At Home Over Brick-And-Mortar AlternativeHome Health Care News, 12/22/23The hospital-at-home model can help alleviate caregiver stress, and that could be one of the model’s main selling points moving forward. The evidence behind that is from a new DispatchHealth case study, which explored caregiver fatigue within the hospital-at-home model by asking, “Does this innovative care model alleviate or exacerbate caregiver stress?” The results were encouraging, Kevin Riddleberger—the co-founder and chief strategy officer of DispatchHealth—told Home Health Care News. ... An overwhelming majority (95%) of respondents preferred in-home care over the traditional hospital setting, with 68% saying they had a strong preference for hospital-level care in the home. The other 5% selected hospital-based care as their preference. An almost identical number of caregivers—96%—found in-home care less stressful than a previous in-patient hospital experience.

God’s work—West Virginia Caring plans Morgantown hospice centerDominion Post (Morgantown, WV), 12/23/23Morgantown, WV—There’s a big brick building at 501 Van Voorhis Road—48,000 square feet or so shaped like a giant H. The sign above the front door says “Friendship Manor.” Malene Davis calls it “The building God picked out.” You see, Davis has spent the last 30-plus years working in hospice care. These days, the registered nurse serves as the president and CEO of West Virginia Caring, formerly Hospice Care Corp., which serves 12 counties—basically covering everything from Flatwoods, north.

Assisted dying Scotland—Sir Keir Starmer backs call for change in law as Dame Esther Rantzen champions moveThe Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland), 12/22/23Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has backed calls for a change in the law on assisted dying. The cause has been championed by Dame Esther Rantzen, who has called for politicians to grapple with the issue for the first time since 2015. The 83-year-old Childline founder and broadcaster has stage four lung cancer and earlier this week said she has joined the assisted dying clinic Dignitas. The Labour leader, who backed a change in the law the last time the issue was voted on in the Commons in 2015, acknowledged it would have to be addressed carefully.

Baptist Health eliminates leadership positionsSouth Florida Business Journal, 12/21/23Baptist Health South Florida eliminated 190 leadership and non-clinical positions through voluntary separation and other labor reduction measures in recent months, according to the health system’s report to bond investors. The Miami-based nonprofit, the largest hospital operator in South Florida, filed its report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.