Literature Review

Speaking out: Hello and goodbyeThe Bismarck Tribune, by Amanda Godfread; 1/11/24As I said hello to 2024, though, I had the difficult honor of saying goodbye at two funerals. One for a dear friend’s father who passed away unexpectedly and another for my great aunt, who was 94 and in hospice when she died. Two very different lives that led to the same kind of commemoration by friends and family to remember, to say goodbye, and to figure out how to move forward.

Courageous Parents Network: Decade of helping parents cope with grief and lossFig City News, by Julie M. Cohen; 1/9/24“The reason grief can be so hard is because it can feel so isolating,” Julia Ong reflected while discussing the 2021 death of her younger child, Avery. Even before their daughter died, the Newton resident and her husband, Jordan Bray, experienced the crushing weight of grief upon learning the baby’s diagnosis. They soon learned about a Newton-based nonprofit, the Courageous Parents Network (CPN). The organization, which in 2024 is marking its 10th anniversary, “orients and empowers parents and others caring for children with serious medical conditions, by providing resources and tools that reflect the experience and perspective of other families and clinicians,” according to its website ...

Grief counseling

The book "The In-Between: Unforgettable encounters during life's final momentsHSJ Online, by David Webster; 1/2/24Recently, I received a book from one of my daughters for my birthday, "The In-Between" by Hadley Vlahos, RN. While in Florida for a vacation, I made reading the best-selling book a priority and admittedly cried with each chapter as Hadley shares her personal life mixed in with being a Hospice nurse. Hadley made a statement ... that really struck me, ... “I have learned how important it is to be a human first and an employee second.”

A Birmingham mother draws on personal tragedy to assist grieving familiesAlabama Reflection, by Ralph Chapoco; 1/2/24Ella Shakeel has been volunteering with Faith in Action Alabama for five years. In that time, she worked exclusively with victims of violent crime as they came to terms with not only the tragedy of losing a loved one, but also with dealing with the logistics of laying them to rest. The source of her empathy stems from the tragedy that she herself has endured.

She’s A Hospice Social Worker Sharing Why You Shouldn’t Immediately Tell The Bank When A Loved One Passes AwayChipChick, by Emily Chan; 12/26/23Amy Devine (@yourhospicesocialworker) is a hospice social worker, and she’s on TikTok explaining why you should not immediately notify the bank when a loved one dies. After the loss of a loved one, you should take the time to grieve. The following few weeks will be filled with plenty of preparations.

Hodge PodgeKDLM-AM (Detroit Lakes, MN); 12/28/23Connie DeKrey, grief specialist for Hospice of the Red River Valley, talks about how to move on after a loss, but stressed that everyone deals with loss differently. “New Years has its own set of emotions that are prompted. For instance, families have gathered from a distance, and traveled, and there’s a real anticipation of that. But at some point everyone has to go home again and so that extra support and connection ... it can be a real letdown when everyone has to go back to their own homes. There can be some hesitancy, even dread, about beginning the new year without that loved one. But there might also be a sense of hope or expectancy of something positive.”[Editor’s Note: To listen to the 7-minute interview, click here.]

Palliative Care Consultation and Family-Centered Outcomes in Patients With Unplanned Intensive Care Unit AdmissionsJournal of Palliative MedicineJamie T Nomitch, et.al.December 25, 2023Context: Hospitalized patients who experience unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admissions face significant challenges, and their family members have unique palliative care needs. Objectives: To identify predictors of palliative care consultation among hospitalized patients with unplanned ICU admissions and to examine the association between palliative care consultation and family outcomes.Conclusions: For patients experiencing unplanned ICU admission, palliative care consultation often happened after transfer and was associated with illness severity, comorbid illness, and hospital site. Patient death was associated with family symptoms of psychological distress.

Share your story of grief with USA TODAYUSA Today, 12/24/23[USA Today is offering readers the opportunity to share their personal grief experiences by completing a two-page survey.] We know so many people are grieving losses of all kinds: children, parents, pets, jobs, identities. It can help to talk about it—and sometimes writing can be an outlet. We encourage you to share your story with us.

Christmas tree dedicated to those who died in hospice care in 2023 stolen in EllensburgSource One (Columbia River Basin, WA)December 18, 2023Ellensburg, WA—In an unfortunate turn of events, a treasured Christmas tree, integral to a local hospice care volunteer group’s annual remembrance event, was reported stolen this past weekend. Hearts & Hands of Kittitas County, formerly known as Hospice Friends, has been a beacon of compassion and support in Ellensburg, dedicating their time to assist those in hospice care. The stolen tree, a centerpiece for their “Tree of Love” event, was intended to honor individuals served by the organization who passed away in 2023. This significant event, originally scheduled for January 25, 2024, not only serves as a memorial but also plays a crucial role in fundraising efforts for the group.

Grieving amid holidays is hard. Hospice can helpTimes Union (Albany, NY)December 16, 2023The holidays can be challenging, more so for those dealing with the loss of a loved one. ... “We have lots of experience dealing with death and grieving,” said Angela Yu, manager of marketing and communications, continuing care at St. Peter’s Health Partners. She said the hospice has also developed Holiday Hope videos on how to cope. They are posted on Facebook. 

Anderson Cooper’s Newest Assignment—Grief (His Own)New York TimesDecember 17, 2023It took Anderson Cooper more than a year after his mother’s death to begin clearing out her apartment. It was an emotionally draining task, one that he put off—something his mother may have anticipated, because she left him a road map. He began finding notes she had left him, tucked away in drawers and sealed containers. Written in her hand on heavy stationery, they acted as a kind of treasure hunt to their shared grief. Mr. Cooper’s mother, the heiress and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, was one of the most famous women in the world, courted by Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, photographed by Richard Avedon, and a muse to Truman Capote, who is believed to have based the character of Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” partly on her. Just sorting through her personal papers would have been challenging for her son after her death at the age of 95 in 2019. But the apartment was also the final resting place of objects that belonged to Mr. Cooper’s father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, an author and screenwriter who died in 1978 when Anderson was 10, and his older brother, Carter Cooper, who died in 1988, when they were both in their 20s, after jumping from his mother’s balcony.... Mr. Cooper, 56, began keeping voice memos on his phone as he was sorting through his mother’s belongings in 2021. They grew into a podcast on grief, “All There Is With Anderson Cooper,” which began its second season in November. For decades, the longtime anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360°” has chronicled other people’s suffering. Now, he has become a correspondent from the land of his own grief.

Community comes together to trim tree of treasured memoriesDaily Star (Hammond, LA)December 16, 2023Hammond, LA—On the morning of Saturday, Dec. 9, members of the community came together for a standing-room-only remembrance celebration and to trim a Christmas tree with hand-picked ornaments symbolizing treasured memories of their loved ones. The “Memory Tree Remembrance Celebration” carries on a 31-year tradition that a!rms the lives of former hospice patients. Held in the E. Brent Dufreche Conference Center on the campus of North Oaks Medical Center, it is one component of North Oaks Hospice’s bereavement counseling and support services provided to families and caregivers for one year following the death of their loved one.