April is National Counseling Awareness Month
April is National Counseling Awareness Month. Counselors work as mental health specialists in many settings throughout the community. They work in clinics, private practices, agencies, hospitals, schools, prisons, and in other settings.
Niagara Hospice Recognizes Volunteers
Volunteers are often the unsung heroes of nonprofit organizations. They provide vital support for programming, services and administration that may go unnoticed to casual observer. Every April, organizations around the country salute their volunteers for all the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm they bring to every shift, every task and special event.
National Healthcare Decisions Day is April 16
Do you know who will make health care decisions for you if you can't?
With few options for families facing dementia, Niagara Hospice expands community-based care program
As Alzheimer's disease and related dementia diagnoses continue to increase in our region, it is essential to devote additional resources toward customizing patient care and enhancing family support options. This growing population has many unique needs while living with various symptoms and challenges. Additionally, these patients' families and caregivers experience great stress and fatigue in managing their care.
Join Us in Saluting Social Workers in March
As we prepare for the joys of spring, we are pleased to recognize March as National Social Work Month, a commemoration that the National Association of Social Workers (SocialWorkers.org) introduced in March 1963.
A Season With Niagara Hospice and Alzheimer's Disease
My husband, Walter, was diagnosed with dementia in 2010. It really started after his sister died in July 2009. He could no longer do simple tasks like pay bills, carry on a normal conversation (he repeated himself), prepare simple foods or drive without getting lost. He was always confused about what time of day it was. He quickly had all 10 symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
February Bridges Newsletter
The February issue of Bridges, a newsletter to help people design, build and maintain a bridge from loss to growth, is available here.
Families Find Similar Experiences Through Bereavement Support Groups
Each month the Niagara Hospice Bereavement Services Department offers several support groups that focus on a particular type of loss.
Niagara Hospice Holds Annual Light-A-Life Ceremony
Each year, Niagara Hospice invites the community to its Light-A-Life event. It has become a tradition for many families who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
Your Shopping on Amazon Contributes to Niagara Hospice
If you shop on Amazon, click here and you will also be contributing 0.5% of all of your purchases to Niagara Hospice.
Hospice Month commemorates compassion for patients and support for families
National Hospice Month prompts us to reflect on the growth of hospice care
How will I know?
Educating our communities is a big part of ensuring families understand what hospice is - and what it is not. Hospice is not about giving up; it's about getting help, changing goals, and choosing how you want to live as you near the end of life.
Patients must qualify for in-patient care
"It's disheartening to know that improper billing practices used by some for-profit hospice agencies casts a dark shadow on so many other hospice programs that truly exist for the purpose of providing the best quality care to patients."
Feeling the Grief?
Have you noticed a difference in yourself (or others) after the death of your loved one? Not quite sure if it's normal, healthy, destructive - or mean anything at all? For some of us, there is a very specific and negative way we cope with grief. Researchers have coined the term Experiential Avoidance ...
Too many die without ever being offered the tangible end-of-life support that hospice care provides
Unfortunately, too many families are denied the benefit of hospice care, or wait too long to accept the many supports the hospice team provides. Too many patients accept hospice only in their final days or even hours of life, leaving families wishing they had known about hospice care sooner.
Back to School for the Grieving Child
The excitement of back to school in September often turns to trepidation for the grieving child. Parents, teachers and children can help themselves with knowledge that will help ease the transition.
Hospice Provides a Better Way to Live
Refusing hospice care because it's associated with dying is like not celebrating a birthday because it reminds you that you are getting older.
How Conversations - and Policy - are Changing
Welcome to Niagara Hospice's very first Blog! We look forward to sharing helpful information with the community to help navigate the often muddy waters of health care. Change is happening - at a very fast pace in some instances. You may have recently needed to make a decision on which managed long term care plan is right for you; or decide on which coverage in your current plan you may need to upgrade or downgrade to in order to meet you and your family's needs; or discuss with family and your doctor whom you want to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to do so for yourself at any point in the future. Through the Niagara Hospice Blog, we will address current health care issues and innovations as well as a variety of other topics to enhance quality of life.
