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For
links to Spirituality sites go to our
Links Directory.
Center
To Advance Palliative Care
CENTER
TO ADVANCE PALLIATIVE CARE UNVEILS NEW WEB
SITE
This week the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) released a brand new
web design. The site includes a wealth of information designed to assist in
the creation of palliative care programs across the country. CAPC is a
resource to hospitals and health systems interested in developing palliative
care programs. The Center serves a broad constituency of providers and
interested groups - including physicians, nurses, educators, policy makers,
health researchers, payers, students and, ultimately, patients and their
families - in an effort to improve the availability and quality of
palliative care. The Center is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
and Co-Directed by Diane Meier, MD and Christine K. Cassel, MD.
If
you would like to discuss any of these items,
send e-mail to
lastacts-discussion@lists.lyris.net.
If you would like to include an item
in the e-mail newsletter, please send the information to lastacts@aol.com.
To
visit the new site, go to:
http://www.capc.org
Innovations
in End-of-Life Care
an international journal and online forum of leaders in end-of-life care
This
bimonthly, online journal features peer-reviewed
promising practices in end-of-life care. Each
innovation is selected because it holds promise
for enhancing the comfort and dignity of dying
persons and their families. Thematic issues
spotlight improvements in institutional practice
and policies, uncover the process behind these
efforts, and offer international perspectives
on the topic.
http://www2.edc.org/lastacts/
CAREGIVER.COM
ARTICLE OFFERS TIPS ON SELF CARE FOR FAMILY
CAREGIVERS
A
recent article on Caregiver.com offers some
simple advice for family
caregivers coping with the stress of day to day struggles. Caregivers
commonly explain that there never seems to be enough time in the day to
complete all their duties. Ironically, though, the more they take time to
take care of themselves, the more time available for self needs and tasks.
Over the last 20 years, extensive research, at Harvard and other prestigious
universities, has shown that only 20 minutes of daily meditation has
dramatic effects on physical health. Meditation has been shown to lower
blood pressure, cholesterol, and the occurrence of heart disease, while it
improves the immune system, and enhances physical response to chronic
diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
 LAST
ACTS MEDIA CENTER FEATURES NEW PRESS RELEASES
Check out the on-line Media Center at the Last Acts web site for several
brand new releases. Release topics include an upcoming symposium on legal
and ethical issues in pain management, coverage of the latest caregiver
issue of the Innovation in End-of-Life Care online journal, and results of
a
recent study regarding pain management in nursing homes. If you are a
member of the media, please be sure to register on the site for full access
to this section.
To visit the Last Acts Media Center go to:
http://www.lastacts.org/section/mediacenter
Click on 'Current Releases' to view those mentioned above as well as
previous Last Acts press releases
AGING
POPULATION MAY LEAD TO INCREASED DEMENTIA
CASES
An editorial in the April 12 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine
comments on the projection that over the next 50 years, incidences of
Alzheimer's Disease in America are expected to quadruple. The article says
this dramatic increase in prevalence will result primarily from the aging of
the population. The percentage of Americans older than 75 years of age is
predicted to increase from approximately 5.9 percent in 2000 to 11.4 percent
in 2050.
To view the entire editorial, go to:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/344/15/1160
HOSPITAL
STAFFERS GO EXTRA MILE
In an article that appeared in the New Jersey Star-Ledger on April 16, a
nurse and a social worker at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, New
Jersey have been working hard to help bury anonymous hospital deaths in a
dignified way. While the law requires hospitals to publish a legal notice
of death in the newspaper in the hope someone might read it and claim the
body, if no one responds, the body is turned over to welfare agencies for
indigent burial.
2002
CIRCLE OF LIFE AWARD APPLICATION AVAILABLE
The application for the 2002 Circle of Life Award: Celebrating Innovation in
End-of-Life Care is now available and can be downloaded on the web. Applications
are due August 15. The Circle of Life Award honors innovative programs that
have improved the care people receive near the end of their lives whether in
hospital, hospice, nursing home, or home. The award is sponsored by the American
Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Medical Association,
the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and the National
Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. It is supported by a grant from The
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
To download an application and learn more about the award, visit:
http://www.aha.org/circleoflife
Biblical
Passages and Quotes on Aging and the Elderly
Leviticus
19:32
You shall rise up before gray hairs,
And honor the face of an old man.
Isiah
46:4
Even in old age I am He,
And to gray hairs I will carry you.
Psalms
20:29
The beauty of old men is their gray hair.
Psalms
71:9
Do not cast me off in the time of old age,
Forsake me not when my strength is spent.
Psalms
71:18
So even in old age and gray hairs,
Oh God, do not forsake me.
Proverbs
16:31
White hairs are a crown of glory.
Proverbs
23:20
Do not despise your mother when she is old.
From
the New Testament
St. John 21:18
When you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you,
and carry you when you do not wish to go.
The
Lord heals the brokenhearted and binds up
their wounds. Psalms 147 V3
"The
faces of people with Alzheimer's are known
to light up with remembrances of attending
springtime revivals or singing old-time gospels.
A relationship with God tends to shine through
a fog in thinking. A psalm may be recognizable
beam of light." Rev John Deeds
"He
surely is in need of another's patience who
has none of his own" author unknown
Worship
with friends and family is peaceful and gives
me the strength to get through the week." Author
unknown.
Even
these may forget, yet, I will not forget you.
Behold, I have graven you in the palms of
my hands. Isaiah 49:15-16 A
I
will make a road through the wilderness and
give you streams of water there.
Isaiah 19
In
thee, O Lord, do I take refuge…rescue
me. Be thou to me a rock of refuge;
Forsake me not when my strength is spent. Psalm 71:1-3
If
one member suffers, all suffer together. 1
Corinthians 12:26A
"Jesus
entrusted the care of his mother to one of
his disciples. John 19:25-27
"Healing
is possible even when curing is not. Just
because a person can't follow along in a prayer
book doesn't mean he or she can't benefit
from a religious service." Rabbi Sam
Siecol.
GOOD
ENDINGS
An innovative program on caring for the dying resident. No health care facility
should be without this intense, compassionate approach to end-of-life care.
GOOD ENDINGS will:
* Provide your facilities with materials to educate your staff on death &dying
issues
* Assist you in developing your own Good Endings program
* Provide steps on how to recruit, train and facilitate volunteer Vigil Teams
* Enhance the marketability of your facilities by providing this service to
the community
Death &Dying workshops for your staff are also available
to facilities in MA and CT.
For more information
on GOOD ENDINGS or Educational workshops,
see our website: www.goodendings.net, or write
our email address: goodendings@hotmail.com.,
or call (413) 733-8592.
For free encouraging word tapes
Tape 1 Dont Preserve the Past
Tape 2 Examing Your Faith
Tape 3 the Wilderness Experience
Tape 4 God will never leave you
Tape 5 The Way of the Eagle
Tape 6 Meditating on His Word
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