Month: April 2025

EOLPodcast

Ep. 498 Memory Bears and Grief in Community with Michelle Sebern RN

kwyattmd

Learn how a project making memory bears for people who are grieving is opening the door to conversation about the end of life.

My guest Michelle Sebern is an RN who trained as an end-of-life doula to channel her skills and passion into more community-focused work. When she found her rural community wasn’t quite ready to receive end-of-life doula services she decided to find a more creative way to give back. She will share how she founded The Memory Bear Maker and now creates customized bears to help people in their grief and begin end-of-life conversations. Learn more at her website:

thememorybearmaker.com

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This episode includes:

  • Michelle’s journey from nurse to doula and memory bear maker
  • The challenges of introducing doula services into a community not quite ready for that step
  • How she discovered memory bears to be the perfect blend of her passions
  • How memory bears help with grief
  • Why the bears are an alternate doorway into end-of-life education and conversations
  • How grief unites people by dissolving barriers
  • The magic of storytelling that comes with memory bear making

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest patron Sue Simone, and to Caroline McClure for buying me 3 coffees! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 497 Integrating Doulas and Chaplains in End-of-Life Care with Jane Whitlock and Liza Neal

kwyattmd

Learn how doulas and chaplains collaborate to provide end-of-life care in a skilled nursing facility.

My guests for this episode are Jane Whitlock and Liza Neal who both work with the Full Circle Care Program in a skilled nursing facility to support residents and their loved ones during end-of-life journeys. Jane is an end-of-life doula who also helped found the Minnesota Death Collaborative and co-founded Full Circle Care. Liza is a chaplain who has worked to develop spiritual community within and outside faith and multi-faith contexts. She joined the skilled nursing facility in order to be part of the Full Circle Care Program, which we discuss in this interview.

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This episode includes:

  • How the Full Circle Care Program came about
  • The goals for the program and what it consists of
  • The roles of doulas and chaplains and how they work together
  • How they support and educate patients, families and staff around grief and end-of-life choices
  • The community that develops within a residential facility and approaching the experience of grief for everyone in the facility
  • The importance of teaching families and staff how to say goodbye to a dying person
  • How this program helps fills the gaps left by today’s “modern” hospice care
  • Obstacles that have occurred in creating this program
  • Tips for other skilled nursing facilities that might want to start a similar program

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest patron Trina Wacasey, and to everyone who has bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.


EOLPodcast

Ep. 496 Visual Storytelling for End-of-Life Planning with Jill Greenbaum

kwyattmd

Learn how the art of Visual Storytelling can enhance end-of-life education and serve as a tool for advance care planning.

My guest Jill Greenbaum is a contemplative chaplain and advocate of conscious living and dying. She completed chaplaincy training at the Upaya Zen Center and integrates her experience in psychology, education, visualization, and trauma-informed teaching into her work helping people explore their choices for end-of-life planning. She discusses how she utilizes visual storytelling in her work and why it is a powerful tool. Learn more at her website:

jillgreenbaum.com

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This episode includes:

  • How Jill was drawn to visual storytelling and applying it to end-of-life planning
  • What is visual storytelling and how is it used
  • Why images can convey messages more powerfully than text
  • What is “graphic medicine”
  • Tips for more effective end-of-life planning and conversations
  • How to incorporate visual storytelling into end-of-life education
  • How visual storytelling can be used to create a visual obituary and a graphic recording for a celebration of life

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to everyone who has bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 495 Care Boss: Strategies for Family Caregivers with Jennifer A. O’Brien

kwyattmd

Learn how leadership skills and organizational tools can help decrease stress for family caregivers.

My guest Jennifer O’Brien has been a practice management consultant to physicians for 35 years and is the author of the book The Hospice Doctor’s Widow, which was the subject of our previous interview. After providing care for her husband, a hospice and palliative care physician, at the end of his life she has focused on helping people start conversations about caregiving and end of life. She shares insights and tips from her latest book Care Boss: Leadership Strategies and Resources for Family Caregivers, which was inspired by her realization that there are profound similarities between leadership and family caregivers. Learn more at her website:

jenniferaobrien.com

Get the book here

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Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Similarities and differences between the roles of family caregiver and CEO
  • How leadership strategies can benefit an overwhelmed family caregiver
  • The value of having a mission and vision statement for our end of life
  • How to assemble a “team” as a caregiver by identifying the helpers
  • Tips for delegating tasks to others
  • The best time to read this book and how to use it
  • Rethinking the idea of self-care as self-management and self-awareness
  • Using the Intensity Assessment Tool to understand the degree of stress you are experiencing
  • The idea of “Precious Time” and why it’s important

Links mentioned in this episode:

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, and to everyone who has bought me a coffee or donated on Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.