Posted: September 6th, 2023

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

1. After completing the reading for this week, your assignment is to consider the following:

Explore the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website below and share the following:
The difference between hospice, palliative care, and bereavement care.
What are the four recommendations for communicating care wishes?
After reading about the 4 main typesLinks to an external site. of grief, briefly describe your experience with one of these types and your grief process.
https://www.caringinfo.org/Links to an external site.

Write a short answer response of about 1-2 paragraphs (minimum 150 words) about it.

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The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website provides valuable information on hospice, palliative care, and bereavement care. Hospice care is designed for individuals who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less. It focuses on providing comfort care and symptom management to improve the patient’s quality of life during their final days. Palliative care, on the other hand, is for individuals who have a serious illness but are not necessarily in their end-of-life stages. It aims to improve the patient’s quality of life by managing symptoms, addressing emotional and spiritual needs, and providing support for the patient and their family. Bereavement care is a type of support offered to individuals who are grieving the loss of a loved one. It can include counseling, support groups, and other resources to help individuals cope with their grief.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website also outlines four recommendations for communicating care wishes. These recommendations include:

Think about your wishes for medical care and end-of-life decisions.
Talk to your loved ones about your wishes.
Write down your wishes and share them with your loved ones and healthcare providers.
Review and update your wishes as needed.
Regarding the four types of grief, my experience is with anticipatory grief. It is a type of grief that occurs when a person knows that their loved one is dying, and they experience grief in advance of the actual death. I experienced anticipatory grief when my grandfather was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Even though he was still alive, I mourned his eventual loss and began to prepare for life without him. I coped with my grief by spending more time with my grandfather and creating memories with him. It helped me to come to terms with the inevitable loss and to cherish the time we had left together.