Hospice Journey: Free Web Sites for Patients and Their Families

[Reviewed and updated September 21, 2020]

I've just discovered yet another online network of support I'm pleased to share with you!  This one is specifically designed for terminally ill people and their families and friends, as they receive hospice care and face end of life choices and transitions.

Hospice and Caregiving, March 20 - March 26

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Messages to Loved Ones offers Hospice, Alzheimer's, others a way to preserve, share, tell their stories, http://bit.ly/gNIICk by @EarlC

• Maintaining sexual intimacy at the end of life, http://bit.ly/hQFrcf by @angelamorrow

• Advice on talking about end-of-life care, http://ow.ly/1bVHeF via @RecordEagle

• Free tip sheet to support Alzheimers caregivers, http://bit.ly/gNR75C by @HlthAdvocate via @HealthProponent

• Informative! Caregiving as seen from two sides, http://bit.ly/hcN525 via @seniorhomes

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 20 - March 26

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• First Year of Grief: Help for the Journey, http://ow.ly/45uQY e-book by grief counselor @griefhealing via @Selfhealingexpr

• Mother Loss: article, poem and discussion, http://ow.ly/45z5a via @selfhealingexpr

• New PSA for TAPS: Comfort & care for those grieving death of loved one in the military, http://bit.ly/fSTzZf by @TAPS4America

• Beautiful cremation pendants to remember and connect, http://bit.ly/fz5AAJ via @Esdeer

• When is treatment indicated for grief? http://bit.ly/fMoFDH via @helen_horvath

Coping with Pet Loss, March 20 - March 26

Best selection from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Comments on "Loving Pets, and Losing Them: A Vet's Perspective," http://bit.ly/gNcgNV

Hospice and Caregiving, March 13 - March 19

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• How To Live Life Knowing You're Going To Die, http://huff.to/f6kyw9 via @huffingtonpost

• YES! WE must educate public and govmnt on end-of-life care! http://bit.ly/faY9K9 via @hospicepharmacy

• Dispelling the Myths about Hospice, http://bit.ly/fE3mns by @wpahospitalnews via @SolariHospice

• Beautiful video! Hospice helps care for dying sister, http://youtu.be/76PuDqZwPyA by @TCHospice

• Personal and touching: Grief Reflection Hits Home, http://conta.cc/gXhV3l by @StoryForHealing @survivegrief

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 13 - March 19

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Must read! Novel Ways To Think About Grief, http://huff.to/gFhSuk by @NewGrief via @huffingtonpost

• Tax Tips for Widows, http://bit.ly/ijMJxy on @Widville via @freshwidow

• NAGC plenary session will be grief-related Changes for DSM-V: Pros and Cons, http://bit.ly/euYSuy via @NAGCnews

• Children, Grief and Loss, http://bit.ly/e9mIfK via @DownSynAdvocacy

• Stages of grieving online, http://bit.ly/eVxMKf by @sairy via @Thandelike

Coping with Pet Loss, March 13 - March 19

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• FREE downloadable Ebook helps deal with impending pet loss, http://ow.ly/4hyiU by @VetWisdom

• Have you ever written a eulogy for a pet that has died? http://ow.ly/4hixX via @VetWisdom

• Must read! The Winding Country Road of Dying, http://t.co/tZxaUiM by @NEPetHospice via @VetWisdom 

After-Death Communication: A List of Resources

[Reviewed and updated December 9, 2023]

After Death Communication (ADC) is one of the most frequently discussed topics in the online Grief Healing Discussion Groups I moderate, and it is one I've written about in an earlier post.

In an online TVGuide article I read that, in a segment broadcast on his program, television's Dr. Mehmet Oz "had quite a wild time watching [famed psychic medium] John Edward do his thing. In fact, the good doc says the experience changed his life!"

What are we to do with all this interest in ADC?

Caregiving and Hospice, March 6 - March 12

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Study: Hospice care benefits survivors too, http://bit.ly/g3n3ud via @DrDignity @hospice_news

• Volunteers make sure no one is alone at the end of life, http://bit.ly/gK4ePD via @annbilott @hospicepharmacy

• New guide dog leads both man and previous, now-blind guide dog, http://ow.ly/4c0VP via @amcny @PetDecisions

• End of Life Resource Centre: a valuable online resource, http://bit.ly/11Rtya via @jlunney_mp

• Wonderful video on value of pets when loved one is on hospice, http://ow.ly/4bJt8 via @petpeaceofmind

Coping with Pet Loss, March 6 - March 12

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• New standards for services related to petloss, http://bit.ly/hE6N5B

• 5 Things No One Ever Told You about Dying, http://bit.ly/f44oQP by New England Pet Hospice via @VetWisdom

• In home euthanasia for pets is becoming more available. Your experience? http://ow.ly/49n5u via @VetWisdom

• A Different Grief: Helping You and Your Children with Pet Loss, http://ow.ly/45xtT by @griefhealing via @Selfhealingexpr

• Support line for those who are grieving the loss of a pet, http://bit.ly/etFUAF via @CAT_PEI @DrMartyBecker

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 6 - March 12

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Dealing with grief through yoga, http://bit.ly/dEpo8G via @MikeWolpert

• Men and Grief, http://bit.ly/e5dKUp by @Esdeer

• Shep Jeffreys on grief: ‘How Long Will It Take?’ http://bit.ly/eKsUCY

• Powerful advice for helping another in grief, http://bit.ly/h8zWyY via @MatthewLindgren

• Children and grief, http://bit.ly/hGKwBH via @AliveHospice

Using Art As a Path for Healing

[Reviewed and updated May 18, 2021]

I have discovered that, in my opinion, grief often inspires creativity.  When everything is hunky-dory, you just don't have the same compelling need to express yourself creatively, nor to do all the hard work it requires.  That is probably why so much of the world's great literature is about grief and loss. ~ Mary Semel, in A Broken Heart Still Beats

As amazing as it sounds, bereavement does have a bright side.  It is the "sweet" in the bittersweet journey of grief.  A nationwide niche of artists who know how to bring it out and celebrate the life of a loved one can be found at BereavementArtists.com -- a non-profit directory of artists who specialize in custom bereavement work.  From quilts, collages, portraits, jewelry, urns and more, the purpose of the site is to connect anyone, anywhere, to a desired art form and artist that speaks to their taste, need, and budget.

Caregiving and Hospice, February 27 - March 5

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Success System for Caregiving, http://ow.ly/45eEi via @ShelleyWebbRN @AgeWiseLiving

• Great articles and abstracts on health benefits of animals, http://tinyurl.com/dhokob via @DeltaSociety

• Book review: Guidebook for Dying Parents, http://bit.ly/ghglkk by @susanwreynolds

• Dying parents: Preparing Your Children for Goodbye, http://tinyurl.com/4bk5z5l book reviewed by @lesmorgan

• What to do when a loved one suffers from memory loss, http://on.today.com/efiNR6 via @FirstLightCare

Understanding and Managing Grief, February 27 - March 5

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Music for a Grieving Heart: Grief Songs, http://bit.ly/11rtcf

• Keeping grandparents' memory alive for children, http://fb.me/LEHXzG42 via @centeringcorp

• Film Review: Unbearable Grief in Rabbit Hole (2010), http://bit.ly/hWed8P

• Questioning the value of grief counseling, http://bit.ly/evAU63 by Alan Wolfelt, PhD

• Surviving Grief: For Better or Worse? by Ashley Davis Bush, http://bit.ly/ecV5MH

Coping with Pet Loss, February 27 - March 5

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Ambiguous Loss: When a pet goes missing, http://ow.ly/47ZG7 by @VetWisdom

• Comfort, kind words when a pet is near death, http://usat.ly/hgtqCJ

• Helping Children in Grief, http://bit.ly/fYqtYI by @SueAtkins

• Baltimore Humane Society offers pet funeral services, http://bit.ly/gMu03P via @ForeverPets

• Thoughtful post on pet loss and grief: Don't Be Sad It's Over, http://bit.ly/f8THLN by @NEPetHospice

• Want to memorialize a lost pet? Free online pet memorial, http://tinyurl.com/lk826p by @peternity