Touching Lives in Eldercare and Hospice

Hello all,

I’m not one to pour my energy into politics but there are times when something catches my attention.  Here is one such thing that I think deserves passing along and following because it could positively affect funding for complementary therapies in hospice and palliative care.  The following information is from this web link http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=HealthCare

In June 2009, Senator Warner introduced the Senior Navigation and Planning Act of 2009, health reform legislation that will strengthen the quality and availability of counseling, support services, and care management for patients and families coping with life-limiting illnesses.  The legislation includes:

• Enhanced Medicare and Medicaid Coverage of Advanced Illness Care Management Services
• A Requirement for Physicians to Provide Certain Medicare Beneficiaries with Information on Advance Directives and other Planning Tools
• Incentives for Providers to Achieve Accreditation and Certification in Hospice and Palliative Care
• More Comprehensive Discharge Planning for Facilities
• Increased Public Awareness about the Importance of End-of-life Planning

Several prominent organization have endorsed the legislation, including the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. An important element of the legislation in my view is that it enhances much needed end-of-life education for physicians along with public education about advanced directive. 

I don’t bring this up to endorse a political stand but rather to shine a light on this important conversation taking place on a national stage about end of life care.  Take a look at the link– what do you think about its possible impact on funding for our services?

Until next time, enjoy the gifts of summer!
Many blessings,
Ann

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Hello all,

It’s been a while since my last post and it’s good to return.  I just returned from a beautiful and tranformative two weeks in Peru.  The focus of the journey was a combination of exploring some indigenous cultures and spiritual awakening.  Of course, you can’t go to Peru without visiting Machu Picchu and our group spent two days there. But one of the most powerful parts of the journey came near the end when I traveled to a small island in Lake Titicaca called Amantani.  Our boat was greeted by a group of the most heart-centered people I have ever met– men, women and children alike– and I lived among them long enough to get a sense of life there.  Their lives are based on the value of community and living in right relationship with both self and community.  Joy seemed to radiate from the eyes of these sweet people and I was so  moved by their generosity and their strong connection to nature.

I’m always curious about how different cultures care for their elders.  It was immediately clear that old age does not equal debilitation on Amantani.  Several older adults helped to carry our gear from the boat to the house by tying a large cloth around the gear and hauling it on their backs up a path.  I DO mean up, too, as the terrain is really hilly and the elevation is somewhere around 13,000 feet!   I saw old women herding sheep.  People walk everywhere– there are no cars.  Food is fresh and prepared simply.  At the end of my stay I asked our guide about the elders.  Elders who have needs are cared for by families as I assumed was the case.  But the thing I made note of is that she said they just don’t have many debilitating diseases such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.  She said people there don’t expect to get sick in old age.

I’ve thought about this a lot since my return and have formulated a question about it and would love to get your feedback on it.  I wonder how much of our decline in old age stems from the “learned expectation” in our culture that as we age it is a given that our health will deteriorate. 

I understand that the answer is complex, but an idea worth pondering I think…

To a healthy and well old age,
Ann

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