Caregiving and Hospice, November 20 - November 26, 2011

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

• Hospice and palliative care from professional journalist and widow's perspective, bit.ly/mUQJZk via @Robert_Fried

• Proactive Caregiving during the Holidays, http://bit.ly/v0ClFv via @SueSalach 

• Inside Chronic Illness, http://bit.ly/sJw1Qn by @stangoldberg 

• Engage with Grace, 2011, http://bit.ly/rKBGP8 

• Caregivers: We're not Mother Teresa, http://bit.ly/tZecjW by @stangoldberg

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 20 - November 26, 2011

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

• The Unspoken Feeling: Grief And Its Impact on Teens, http://bit.ly/t9LAWi via @ChildsWork

• Cheryl Eckl: What Does It Mean to Be Grateful? http://bit.ly/s6e71p 

• Do you have books that have helped you deal with grief? by @raidswindmills [Yes! Go see http://bit.ly/9J8Wa4]

• Bittersweet Paradox: Talking about Death is Talking about Life, http://bit.ly/tTqyca by @jen_c_taylor

• Terrific grief support for teens: "Teens' Talk about Grief," http://ow.ly/7i4ML via @HelloGrief

Coping with Pet Loss, November 20 - November 26, 2011

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

• On Pets Dying, http://ow.ly/7C4mh by @authordhallman 

• Excellent info on hospice for pets, http://bit.ly/u6UHcD via @SolariHospice

• Resources for petloss (watch video, too!), http://bit.ly/uCeyHi via @psa2 on @AnnArborcom

• Must read! Changing the Language of Euthanasia, http://j.mp/ur4GaQ 

• Touching Story About Shakespeare's Last Day (Dog Tale), http://shar.es/ogL5W via @MySmartPuppy  

Engage with Grace, 2011

Occupy With Grace

Once again, this Thanksgiving we are grateful to all the people who keep this mission alive day after day: to ensure that each and every one of us understands, communicates, and has honored their end of life wishes.

Seems almost more fitting than usual this year, the year of making change happen. 2011 gave us the Arab Spring, people on the ground using social media to organize a real political revolution. And now, love it or hate it - it's the Occupy Wall Street movement that's got people talking.

Smart people (like our good friend Susannah Fox) have made the point that unlike those political and economic movements, our mission isn't an issue we need to raise our fists about - it's an issue we have the luxury of being able to hold hands about.

Caregiving and Hospice, November 13 - November 19, 2011

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

• Five Myths About Hospice Care, http://ow.ly/7yBHV via @ctffox

• Hospice helps you live well to the end, bit.ly/ut17Ee via @hospice_news

• Ten Caregiving Secrets We Aren’t Proud Of, http://dlvr.it/wkM2J via @pagfoundation

• Very touching video, I Will Remember For You, http://youtu.be/9MOb5V1s6Ow via @homeinstead402

• Plan Ahead to Make Thanksgiving Special for Aging Relatives, http://ow.ly/7y6vG via @ctffox 

• Hospice of the Valley awarded grant to support children nearing end of life and their families, bit.ly/sCqRsn

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 13 - November 19, 2011

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

• Different roads: How others' grief helps us cope with our own, http://bit.ly/uaBOsl

• Passage quilting: helping people through grief, http://bit.ly/vxlcxK

• HPNA's Position Statement: Role of the Nurse When Hastened Death Is Requested, http://bit.ly/s6Eq9x by @HPNAinfo

• Photos from NHPCO's 2011 Creative Arts Contest portray hospice, http://on.fb.me/tVtjKa via @NHPCO_news

• The Empty Chair at the Holiday Table, http://bit.ly/u13nc6 

Coping with Pet Loss, November 13 - November 19, 2011

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

• Rev. Dr. Lillian Capehart: End-of-life care and animals http://t.co/tNjmSTZx
   
• When is it time to say goodbye to a pet? bit.ly/u3BFS 

• Finding support for pet loss, http://j.mp/rYdAYs by @NatashaOnTV

• Review: Katz book explains why pet loss hurts so much, http://bit.ly/sAVREP

• Research: How Animals Cope with Grief, http://j.mp/ssUoA9 via @HubbleandHattie

• Using Books to Help Children with Grief, http://bit.ly/w4PFMh

Using Children's Books to Help with Grief

[Reviewed and updated June 18, 2023]

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.  ~ Mary Ellen Chase

Helping children understand death and the powerful emotions that come with any disappointment or loss is not easy, especially when other members of the family may be grieving, too. When adults are struggling with major life events such as divorce, serious illness, an accident, fire, natural disaster, a crisis in the world or the death of someone close, children may feel lost, frightened and confused. Under such circumstances, they need stable and consistent attention from their caregivers, accurate and factual information, and freedom to ask questions and express their feelings. Like the adults around them, they need time to explore and come to terms with the meaning of their loss.

One of the most effective ways to help children understand normal grief reactions ~ their own and that of the people around them ~  is to tell them a story, or you can read together one of the many wonderful children's books now available on loss, dying, death and grief.

Caregiving and Hospice, November 6 - November 12, 2011

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

• Excellent! What to tell kids about cancer and palliative care, http://bit.ly/shv18i via @MassGeneralNews and @CommonHealth

• How Veterans Can Get the Help They Need, http://bit.ly/udAfaS 

• Straight Talk for Caregivers of Veterans, bit.ly/v219k

• Veterans Day, 2011: Honoring All Who Served, http://bit.ly/vQOBOw 

• Will patients want hospice or palliative care if they don't know what it is? http://bit.ly/rsFixS via @AAHPM

• Top 3 Excuses From Siblings Who Don't Help With Caregiving, http://ow.ly/7g8ew via @connectdforlife 

• Wonderful! Magical Thinking in Caregiving, http://bit.ly/tuCrt3 via @prettyzoely

• Delightful! Best medicine in caregiving is laughter, http://j.mp/uCBnw3 by @NurseBarbDehn via @CaringForYouKel

• Canine Ministers of Healing, http://bit.ly/uKWEqx

• Benefits of using music therapy in hospice, http://ow.ly/7h51I via @SeasonsHospice

• Lovely volunteer program: No One Dies Alone, http://bit.ly/tEmfah via @SevenPonds 

• How Can I Be a Compassionate Caregiver? http://bit.ly/tYtdxt 

• How to deal with anger in a caregiving situation, http://bit.ly/o2dd4h by @agingAIB 

• 25 tips: Caring for your loved one on hospice, http://ow.ly/7h4NJ via @SeasonsHospice

• 40 years later, hospice still misunderstood, http://bit.ly/vQulXJ via @hospicedave and @hospice_news 

• Good article on caregiving during the holidays, http://dld.bz/axCBJ via @Rob_Cares

• Sneaky Ways To Make Respite Care Accepted, http://j.mp/u4odsS by @ShelleyWebbRN 

• Understanding Hospice Nursing, http://j.mp/tRBFAt via @ShelleyWebbRN

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 6 - November 12, 2011

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

• Handling Grief through the Holiday Season, The Compassionate Friends Webinar on Thursday, November 17, 8-9 pm EST; register at http://t.co/ffKp0Uap

• Coping with The Holidays: extensive list of articles, books, ideas, http://bit.ly/3jkKKh

• Write On! The Storybooks for Healing (SFH) Community is Open, http://conta.cc/ukBZY0 via @StoryForHealing

• What is patience and where can I buy some? http://bit.ly/uAQOIX via @caregiverblog

• What Else I Learned about Myself from Delle Chatman, http://bit.ly/uguYMn by @friendgrief

• Brilliant! Using photography as a way to fill the void in grief, http://bit.ly/vc7Egm 

• Therese Rando on Interventions after Traumatic Death, bit.ly/w500Ph ADEC webinar on Wednesday, November 16 by @ADECnews 

• Coping: I Miss You So SO Much! http://bit.ly/rM92xG by @Esdeer 

• Perinatal loss: the truth about grief, http://bit.ly/vibFXw

• Suicide is hard to comprehend for those left behind, ithacajr.nl/uh83lw

• Dealing with a deceased loved one's personal belongings, http://tinyurl.com/7vmqo99 via @caracappa 

• What I Learned about Myself from Delle Chatman, http://bit.ly/rGmjli via @friendgrief

• "The Surviving Parent's Role" in grief, http://ow.ly/7i4BL via @HelloGrief 

• Ain't No Sunshine: Men Reveal the Pain of Heartbreak, http://bit.ly/oeligm via @KindleSurprise

Coping with Pet Loss, November 6 - November 12, 2011

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

• Outstanding! 12 Ideas on Coping and Finding Comfort in Pet Loss, http://bit.ly/uVjRyJ

• New England Pet Hospice: Loving Care Is What Hospice Is All About, http://bit.ly/sNO0dj

• Vet school provides hospice care for pets, http://bit.ly/v2YWIy by @hospice_news

Veterans Day, 2011: Honoring All Who Served

Our country has established two holidays ~ Veterans Day and Memorial Day ~ to honor the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States. Unlike Memorial Day (the day we set aside to remember and honor military personnel who died in the service of our country), Veterans Day is intended to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military, in wartime or peacetime, as well as those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. Veterans Day is intended to thank Veterans and their families for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served ~ not only those who died ~ have sacrificed and done their duty.

In addition to the Veterans Day National Ceremony held each year on November 11 at Arlington National Cemetery at 11 a.m., communities across America plan their own ways to observe the holiday ~ but you need not wait until that day to reach out to veterans and their families.

Caregiving and Hospice, October 30 - November 5, 2011

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

• Caregiving when the recipient is hard to love, ow.ly/7jj9U MT @SupportForHome

• Top 10 Rules to Break in Hospice Music Therapy, http://wp.me/pfeG5-qr by @RachelleNorman via @ContinuumHCH

• Learn more about Pet Therapy in hospice, http://ow.ly/7ikQ4 MT @HouHospice

• When End-Of-Life Talks Confuse–or Do Not Happen http://ow.ly/7iGrq RT @ctffox

• Adaptive clothing in eldercare, http://ow.ly/7iGmU via @ShelleyWebbRN and @ctffox

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 30 - November 5, 2011

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

• Grieving Dads Project aims to support men in grief, http://shar.es/bDwRt from @GrievingDads via @will_carryon

• Book Review: Robert Orfali's Grieving a Soulmate, http://bit.ly/vSqBtN by @booksatbeach 

• 6 needs of mourning, http://ow.ly/7bd3z by @Esdeer

• Share your story: How mums live on in us, http://j.mp/vYgOGX by @storyofmum

• Helping children deal with death, http://j.mp/vpAOrm

Coping with Pet Loss, October 30 - November 5, 2011

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

• New children's book about pet loss, Snort's Special Gift from @BPPress via @MCAmatters