For more than 25 years, I served as a psychology professor and researched grief and bereavement. I consulted and taught individuals, couples and families to meet the demands that chronic illness exacts, to build safety nets and resilience in the presen… Continue reading
(Editor’s note: This content is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation, a Next Avenue sponsor.) For some people facing a terminal illness or the end of life, transitioning to palliative care (care given to improve quality of life for patients with… Continue reading
Seymour and Angel Newman light up as they talk about their daughters, Shoshana and Raphaela. “The best thing that ever happened to my life was those two girls,” Seymour said. Angel added, “They both have such good hearts. They’re such good children.” T… Continue reading
(Editor’s note: This content is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation, a Next Avenue sponsor.) Jodi Savage was her grandmother’s caretaker in her last days. Like many black Americans, her grandmother’s cultural beliefs and religious background le… Continue reading
Mom’s terminal cancer diagnosis took her by surprise. “I always thought I would just fall over dead while I was walking across the backyard,” she told me. “Not me,” I responded. “I’m planning to go out like Uncle Ernest: Go to bed healthy and wake up d… Continue reading
(Editor’s note: This content is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation, a Next Avenue sponsor.) Health care is deeply personal — especially as we age and face serious illness. Although it may not feel like the easiest conversation to have with our… Continue reading
(Editor’s note: This story is part of a special report for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) At a time when health care costs are soaring and health providers are strained for time, arts-based innovations can offer excellent patient care at the end of … Continue reading
(This article is excerpted from Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief by Claire Bidwell Smith.) What is anxiety? Where does it come from, and how can you gain control over it? And why is it so frequently spurred by the loss of a loved one? These are ofte… Continue reading
(Excerpted with permission of the publisher, Wiley, from Navigating Your Later Years For Dummies by Carol Levine and AARP. Copyright © 2018 by AARP. All rights reserved. Available wherever books and eBooks are sold.) There are eight myths about aging a… Continue reading
(This article appeared previously in Kaiser Health News.) Hospice workers would be allowed to destroy patients’ unneeded opioids, reducing the risk that families misuse them, according to one little-noticed provision in the bipartisan opioids bill head… Continue reading