Demystifying Hospice: Inside the Stories of Patients and Caregivers

by Karen J Clayton

Hospice care is available to patients and families dealing with terminal illness. People often do not avail themselves of hospice care because they don't understand what it entails. Many wait until their last few days to request this extraordinary comfort care instead of using the full six months available to them through Medicare and other insurance options.

Demystifying Hospice describes through stories good news about end-of-life issues. Written from the perspective of a licensed social worker with experience in public and private hospitals, hospice, and the American Cancer Society, these first-hand accounts of patients, family members, hospice workers and others will lift spirits, touch hearts, and illustrate the advantages of hospice care. These are real-life examples of personalized comfort care, offered by an interdisciplinary team, where ever the patient lives. Each story addresses some aspect of helping families through the caregiving and grieving process, which are part-and-parcel of a serious illness, and offers comfort and understanding to readers who may be going through similar experiences. This book describes hope, healing, and support through difficult times.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2018

About the author

Reading, writing, traveling, family and being in touch with friends and other authors are my joys. The stories in my book Demystifying Hospice are about my patients, their family and professional caregivers while they were in our hospice care. My social work experiences have been in hospitals, a hospice, and as Director of Patient Services in a regional office the American Cancer Society. My graduate work in sociology prepared me to teach at university level in Texas, California, and the Republic of the Philippines. Currently my husband and I are finishing a book about our adventures learning to live in another culture during the Marcos regime, under martial law. We enjoy our active life on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle. I was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, known as Cereal City, the home of Tony the Tiger. We have travelled to 30 countries, and some of the stories are in my travel blog "Cultural Adventures".

Reviews

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

"it's important to be able to offer help and then accept people and their lives just as they wish them to be. We don't have to understand; sometimes we just need to be there."

As someone who wants to work in a hospice setting, I found this book had a lot of valuable stories and thoughts into culturally appropriate practice, and the complexities that people have nearing end of life.

[Rachael Marsceau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoyed reading an up-to-date book on hospice, complete with lists of recommended reading, films, and websites. The stories she shared were varied and made me quite emotional. While there were several typos, they didn't bother me so much because this is a work of love and personal passion; not a professional tome. Highly recommend if you're researching the topic.

[Marcus A]

I actually couldn't finish this book. The writing and editing were not very good, and some of the timelines did not mesh. It had some good stories, but the writing gave me pause as to the veracity of them.

[Karolinaantonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful information. Easy to read. Conversational in tone.

[Henry Olders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very helpful.
I wish that we had such a comprehensive hospice care system here in Quebec!

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful for my job, liked the real life examples

[Swan Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this title for anyone working in Hospice; thinking of working in Hospice or dealing with family member(s) who will eventually need Hospice. Oh right, that probably means most everyone!

[Paula Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. It explains what hospice is, who is eligible and why most patients should be encouraged to sign up for it sooner.

[Calli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book about the experience of the author, a hospice social worker.

[Dean Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many ideas about hospice illustrated with tales about people's lives.

[Bridget Corcoran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it hard to rate any book on a five star scale but especially this one, which comes in at a 3-4 (rounded up because of the important subject matter even though the prose puts it at a 3.5 for me). I thought it was a really valuable book to read especially as I contemplate going into social work, and am glad to have learned more about this important branch of the medical and social work fields.

[Karen Clayton]

This is my new book, published October 8, 2018, by Rowman and Littlefield. It is being marketed to libraries, educators, and health care professionals. There is an e-book also.

Please call your local library and ask that they stock this book.

These stories will life your spirits and touch your years; they come from my years as a social worker in public and privatge hospitals, a hospice, and the American Cancer Society.

My passion is to show how the extraordinary care hospice provides helps patients and caregivers increase their quality of life when they face a terminal illness. One chapter is about the mixed feelings folks have about hospice--often they do not now folks can receive care for several months, and that hospice is paid for my Medicare, Medicaid, VA Benefits, and many other insurances. Usually hospice have foundations which raise funds to care for olks with no insurance.