nursing homes – End of Life University

Learn about a mission to transform care for dying patients and their loved ones in nursing homes.

My guest Loretta Downs is a Certified End-of-Life Care Practitioner and holds a Masters Degree in Gerontology. She founded Chrysalis End-of-Life Inspirations to advocate for the creation of private rooms in nursing homes and hospitals where families and friends can keep vigil with a loved one who is dying. She’ll discuss her project and share some of the stories that have inspired her work. (NOTE: This is an archived interview from the days before I acquired a professional microphone, so the sound quality is less than desired, but the content is excellent!) Learn more at Loretta’s website:

www.endoflifeinspirations.com

Listen on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

How Loretta became interested in working with the dying
What is a “Chrysalis Room”
How Loretta conceived of the idea of a separate room for the dying in nursing homes
How the Chrysalis Room has benefitted both the patients and the staffs of long-term care facilities
What it takes to create a Chrysalis Room
How to advocate with a facility to change the way they care for the dying

Links mentioned in this episode:

What Really Matters Podcast
NEW Archives Page
Leave me a message by email: kwyattmd@comcast.net, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
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Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, occasional movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
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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 patrons Marian Head and Jaime Corbin, and to Lynn Mytroen for buying me a coffee! Your contributions make all the difference.

End of Life, EOLPodcast, Grief, Hospice

Ep. 65 Changing the Perspective on Death: Highlights from Death Expo 2016

November 21, 2016November 17, 2016 kwyattmd

In this episode Dr. Karen Wyatt shares her favorite “take-aways” from the 12 presentations of the recent Death Expo event. If you missed Death Expo you can still purchase the recordings from the event for just $36 (which is a great price for 12 hours of education.) Go to this link to learn more. The speakers she highlights are:

Andrew George – LA photographer and creator of the “Right, before I die” photo series
Shoshana Ungerleider, MD – founder of the Palliative Care Education Fund
Alison Anthoine, JD – founder of EOL Navigators Project and co-organizer of the Long Before the End Book Group – open to anyone for membership
Charlotte Eulette – director of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute
Katrina Spade – creator of the Urban Death Project
Jerrigrace Lyons – founder of Final Passages and pioneer of the home funeral movement
Michelle Peticolas – grief coach and filmmaker whose film The Heart of Grieving was presented during Death Expo
Barbara Dossey RN – pioneer of the holistic nursing movement
Loretta Downs – founder of the Chrysalis™ Room Project
Amy Cunningham – progressive funeral director
Don Eisenhauer – hospice chaplain and end-of-life coach
Jim & Jess Erskine – creators of MORTALLS: The Death-Positive Conversation Game

Enjoy these highlights! If you feel inspired, consider purchasing the Collection!

Also visit the Patreon.com/eolu page if you’d like to become a supporter! As always:

Face Your Fears. BE Ready. Love Your Life.

End of Life, EOLPodcast, Hospice

Ep. 22 End of Month Update on the End-of-Life with Karen Wyatt MD

January 25, 2016April 1, 2016 kwyattmd

In this episode from January 25, 2016 Dr. Karen Wyatt does an end-of-month review of news and happenings in the end-of-life arena. Subjects covered include:
-deaths of David Bowie and Stephen Levine and their possible influences on societal acceptance of death and dying
-studies on monthly stipends being paid to post-9/11 caregivers
-Facebook videos of preschool being held in a nursing home and dementia patient caring for a baby doll
-NHPCO infographic showing hospice trends over the past 6 years
-JAMA special issue on death and dying and Atul Gawande’s editorial
-study showing unnecessary screening for breast and prostate cancer in older Americans
-Story from Australia of Pat and Peter who died together in a suicide pact to avoid having to seek out medical care in later life