Tag: caregiver support

EOLPodcast

Ep. 369 Practical Tools for Home Caregivers with Barbara Karnes RN

kwyattmd

Learn useful tips for caring for a dying loved one at home and how to be better prepared for the challenge.

My special return guest is Barbara Karnes RN, hospice nurse, author, thought leader, and expert on end-of-life care. Barbara is going to be a recurring guest from now on, joining the podcast every other month to talk about hospice care. Today we discuss practical tools that caregivers need in order to care for themselves and their loved ones at the end of life. Barbara has written a new guide for caregivers called By Your Side that offers a tremendous number of resources and practical tips and she’ll share many of them with us today. Learn more about Barbara’s work at her website:

www.bkbooks.com

Get By Your Side here

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This episode includes:

  • The needs of caregivers are often overlooked by both hospital and hospice staffs
  • What caregivers need to know about food intake for patients at the end of life
  • The importance of keeping a written record of patient’s status throughout the day because it’s too hard to remember
  • The impact of sleep deprivation and fatigue on caregivers including lack of patience and flexibility
  • Why self-care for caregivers is essential and not selfish
  • How to set boundaries with a patient and why they are necessary
  • It’s not a failure to decide that home caregiving is too difficult
  • Why understanding the dying process is important for caregivers
  • How to find support in your community as a caregiver
  • How care of patients with dementia differs from other hospice patients
  • Basic information about pain management and symptom control

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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 Donna Fleming, and to those who have bought me a coffee and made a donation through Paypal! Your contributions make all the difference.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 347 The Global Palliative Care Movement with Katherine Pettus

kwyattmd

Learn about the status of palliative care in developing nations around the world and how IAHPC is working to increase global access.

My guest Katherine Pettus is the Senior Advocacy Director for The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care. In this role she meets with delegates at the United Nations to increase the understanding of palliative care and to advocate for improved availability of opioids for patients needing pain relief. She is the author of Global Palliative Care: Reports from the Peripheries, which describes her visits to communities around the world to witness firsthand their utilization of palliative care. Learn more about the work of IAHPC at the website:

www.hospicecare.com

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This episode includes:

  • Why 80% of the world’s population has no access to morphine
  • How Hospice Africa Uganda is utilizing powdered morphine for pain relief and also allows nurses to prescribe it in the field
  • Why palliative care teams are good at “sideways thinking” to solve problems that arrive in the moment
  • How caregiving is a crisis everywhere in the world right now (except Costa Rica that provides support for family caregivers)
  • Why the extended family is becoming a myth in developing nations
  • What is the “health poverty trap” and how lack of access to palliative care contributes to it
  • How the Western model of medicalized death is spreading to developing nations
  • Expanding palliative care helps medical systems and medical providers as well
  • How a “palliative care peace corps” could transform society
  • How COVID has affected the global palliative care movement

Palliative Care transforms everyone who participates in it.” 

Katherine Pettus in Global Palliative Care: Reports from the Peripheries

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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! Your contributions make all the difference.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 339 Feng Shui for Hospice Patients with Char Tarashanti

kwyattmd

Learn how paying attention to the small details of the surroundings can make a big difference in the wellbeing of hospice patients.

My guest Char Tarashanti is a retired Hospice Chaplain and Certified Feng Shui Consultant. She shares how the principles of Feng Shui can be applied to the care of hospice patients and improve the physical environment as well as the harmony and balance of the space. Her practical suggestions make it simple for any of us to create more pleasing and appealing surroundings for people at the end of life. Download her handout here:

Handout

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This episode includes:

  • What is Feng Shui
  • How death is viewed within the Feng Shui tradition
  • How Char became interested in Feng Shui and in hospice work
  • The benefits for patient and caregiver of creating a more harmonious space
  • The essential elements of Feng Shui and how to apply them to a hospice room
  • How to manage clutter and get better organized in a home hospice setting
  • The two most important features of Feng Shui for hospice patients
  • How caregivers should communicate about any changes being made in the home before beginning the process

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 new patrons Aby Fy and Anne Janssen and to Richard Schneider for increasing your monthly pledge! Your contributions make all the difference.

EOLPodcast

Ep. 275 Training Caregivers to Meet the Needs of a Loved One with Roz Jones

kwyattmd

Learn how and why we need to train many more family and paid caregivers to meet the needs of our aging population, especially during COVID-19.

My guest Roz Jones is the founder of Jacksonville’s Best Caregivers, an organization in Jacksonville FL that provides short and long term caregivers for facilities and families. She is also an author, speaker, crisis counselor and caregiver coach who trains new caregivers and their family members to offer care at home to their ill loved ones. Learn more about her work at her website:

www.thecaregivercafe.net

Listen here:

This episode includes:

  • Top 6 things brand new caregivers need to learn before they start caring for a loved one
  • How caregiving has changed during COVID-19
  • What precautions family caregivers should take to keep their loved one safe from COVID-19
  • Why setting clear boundaries is one of the most important tips for caregivers to avoid burnout
  • How to have productive conversations with ill loved ones about difficult subjects like advance directives, financial issues, loss of independence, end of life
  • Why “Loneliness Kills” the elderly, how COVID-19 has made it worse, and how to help
  • Self-care tips for caregivers
  • How to train with Roz to be a well-informed and effective family caregiver

Links mentioned in this episode:

  • Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
  • Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
  • Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

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 supporter Jaime Byrne and renewing supporter Nancy Walker! Your contributions make all the difference!