Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes

Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes Author: Frances Shani Parker Publisher: Loving Healing Press ISBN: 978-1932690354 Frances Shani Parker has woven a beautiful and touching tapestry of life and death; sharing her stories and poems about the very memorable and wonderful patients she worked with as a hospice volunteer. Already extremely busy as a principal, the author decided to learn about becoming a hospice volunteer. Following the workshops, she began her volunteer stint working with patients in urban nursing homes. She chose to visit patients in nursing homes because she believed they were probably less likely to have family and other visitors, and may be in need of outside companionship . Most of her patients were African America, but of course she had some patients of other ethnic groups also. By sharing her experiences as a hospice volunteer, she allows her readers to take a look inside a situation most of us know nothing about. Through these stories, we learn about the individual patients she works with, along with gaining a much more thorough understanding of the entire hospice system and philosophy. Dying with dignity and peacefullness is something that we all deserve. Hospice care is an important part of ensuring that many people can experience death this way. Numerous races, ages, religious and spiritual beliefs, and life experiences are illustrated here. The process of dying is something that we, as a society, tend to ignore or leave undiscussed. The role of an individual's life experiences, mindset, ability to communicate and religious beliefs all play a huge part in how they interpret the process of death. Ms. Parker has included poetry along with short stories to share her impressions of her patients. In every instance, she found herself learning more about life, and by sharing these lessons we can learn them too. The book does a great service by bringing the details of hospice to the general reader. We learn how the hospice system can fit into the healthcare system (or lack thereof) in our country today. The final portion of the book is a "tour" of what could be described as the epitome of the place that we all wish we could utilize for ourselves or family members as we/they face the end of life on earth. With the aging of the baby boomer segment of our population, the needs of Americans from the hospice care system becomes greater and greater. These stories are offered with love and respect by the author to each reader, and you feel that caring and warmth that she offered to each patient she worked with. I will remember many of the stories and the patients they illustrate for some time to come. It's both touching and thought-provoking, and would be a book appreciated at many different levels by all readers. Exceptional ! !

Becoming Dead Right by Frances Shari Parker is a wonderful, touching, moving portrait of what it means to help another person die "right". I chose to read this book because I have an aging parent living with me and I am worried about how to help with the end of his life and what I can do to help it be pain free, gentle, and "right". Through stories of her work with Hospice Ms. Parker shows us how each and every person deserves to die with peace, dignity, and pain free. She was a school principal and almost accidentally happened into her volunteer work with Hospice after helping two people who were dying. This book was so touching that I couldn't put it down and read it in two hours. I thought it might upset and depress me but I came away hopeful and really wanting to help bring about the vision Parker sets out for the perfect "Baby Boomer Haven." The stories of her work with Hospice patients in nursing homes are told like she is your friend sitting next to you talking about her experiences. The descriptions of the people she worked with and helped were real and not sugar coated. There are a lot of lessons in this book about how we should treat people who are dying and how to help their families, as well as how our nursing homes should be set up and run. She gives a great description of Hospice and the work that it's volunteers do. Anyone who is thinking about becoming a volunteer or plans on working with people who are dying should read this book and gain some idea what it might be like. The last chapter contains a wonderful "tour" of what the perfect nursing/retirement home would be like and it is called "Baby Boomer Haven". Every detail is described and it is truly a beautiful place. It made me wonder why we don't already have this type of home and how we can have them in the future. If more people cared like described in this book we could all become dead---right. A wonderful hopeful book that I recommend highly.