The Heart of Hospice Podcast

Dec 06 2024 546 ep. 36 mins 38
The Heart of Hospice Podcast artwork

The Heart of Hospice podcast is dedicated to helping personal and professional caregivers who are caring for someone with serious illness. We're here to provide information and education so people can make informed choices about end of life care.

  Health & Fitness  Society & Culture
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The Information You Need to Know About Funerals From an Expert

Dec 06 2024 54 mins  
Licensed funeral director and End of Life Doula Christa Ovenell is busting myths about funerals, and sharing practical tips on how to plan a funeral service that reflects your values and needs. As a community-based Death Educator, Christa is the founder of Death’s Apprentice Education & Planning Inc., a company that specializes in holistic advance care planning for individual

The Remarkable Caregiving Story of Stanley and Allison Applebaum

Nov 29 2024 56 mins  
Allison Applebaum stood by her dad Stanley as his caregiving partner, respecting his wishes and maintaining his quality of life through the very end of his life. Allison was previously the Founding Director of the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the first program of its kind in the United States to provide comprehensive psychosocial care to family membe

When Professional Grief Becomes Personal: A Conversation with Barbara Karnes

Nov 25 2024 45 mins  
In this final episode of our special 4 part series, Hospice Educator Barbara Karnes shares the personal story of her husband’s end of life journey and death. She opens up about all the emotions she experienced as she and her family supported Jack Karnes after his diagnosis with a terminal illness. Jack died four months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Barbara and Jack had

Caregiver Creates Legacy of Love After Loss

Nov 22 2024 51 mins  
Susan Combs will tell you she had a great dad. Her caregiving experience at the end of his life inspired her to give back to the veteran community. Susan’s dad Major General Roger E. Combs was a huge influence on her life. Roger battled with throat cancer related to Agent Orange for ten years, eventually dealing with a feeding tube toward the end of his life. A simple act - his r

Learning How to Say the Last Goodbye with Barbara Karnes

Nov 18 2024 40 mins  
After a 40 year hospice career, Barbara Karnes knows a thing or two about end of life care. Today’s special episode is part 3 of our 4 part series in honor of National Family Caregivers Month and National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. Barbara calls her introduction to working with the dying “divine intervention” that occurred because of a random connection with a hospice

This Innovative Product Is Helping Us Do Death Care Better

Nov 15 2024 40 mins  
Cuddle Cots and Cuddle Blankets allow families to spend more time with a loved one after a death, providing an opportunity for end of life workers to do death care better. Danielle Franck of Flexmort shares her personal experience with a Cuddle Cot in this interview. *Warning - This episode contains a description of the loss of a stillborn infant. It may not be for all listeners. P

The Rich History of Hospice: How We Got Here

Nov 11 2024 42 mins  
In episode two of our special four part series, hospice icon Barbara Karnes shares what it was like working in hospice in the early days, before there was a model for working with the dying. Barbara has worked in end of life care for over 40 years, educating and supporting end of life workers and family caregivers alike. In this conversation, we talk about what hospice work was lik

How to Organize Your Life to Make Death Easier

Nov 08 2024 49 mins  
When his dad died, Adam Zuckerman created a highly organized kit for managing his estate. As founder of Buried in Work, he helps people get their end-of-life preparation in place. Adam’s family learned the ins and outs of hospice as they supported his dad at the end of his battle with leukemia. Although their time using hospice care was short, Adam saw the benefits of end of life

Starting Out in the End: Talking With Barbara Karnes

Nov 04 2024 45 mins  
In honor of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month - and National Family Caregivers Month - we’re featuring a special 4-part series with special guest Barbara Karnes, Hospice Nurse and End of Life Educator. In the first episode of the series, Barbara shares how she got started in end of life care back before the Medicare hospice benefit was established in the 1980’s. Here

How to Improve Death Literacy in a Community

Nov 01 2024 46 mins  
Death educator Lee Warren believes preparing for death in advance makes a good death possible. Over a period of two years, she experienced several deaths in her small community of 125 people, teaching her the best lessons about death as she cared for them. Those deaths, and the generous people who experienced them, offered an incredible opportunity for Lee to reweave a more hol