Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes

by Frances Shani Parker, Peter A. Lichtenberg (Introduction)

Overview

All of us are entitled to the rewards of a peaceful, pain-free death. This book honors that with true stories about hospice patients and inspiring insights from the author. Becoming Dead Right guides us through the general and "how to" information maze that prepares us for dealing with death. Improving and expanding hospice services will require systemic changes in healthcare institutions, outreach to diverse populations, and funding. With the inclusion of hospice programs in nursing homes, dying with dignity becomes even more important. Millions of aging baby boomers heighten the urgency for better hospice care and conditions in nursing homes.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012152435
Publisher:	Loving Healing Press
Publication date:	07/23/2011
Series:	Aging With Grace , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	527 KB

About the Author

Frances Shani Parker is an award-winning writer, consultant, and former school principal. A hospice volunteer for many years in Detroit nursing homes, Parker is author of "Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes." With stories, poems, and general information, she presents a captivating account of her experiences and insights on hospice, nursing homes, caregiving, dementia, death, and bereavement. A groundbreaking book with national endorsements, "Becoming Dead Right" includes universal perspectives, particularly the often-missing voices of people of color. An ongoing advocate for seniors, eldercare, and nursing home reform, Parker works with several senior-centered organizations. She serves on the Board of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She writes a blog about hospice, nursing homes, eldercare, and seniors in general. Her blog is called "Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog."

As an educator, Parker has consulted in school districts nationally on service-learning, a teaching and learning approach that connects classroom learning with meeting community needs. Among many service-learning projects, she has created successful intergenerational partnerships between schools and nursing homes. She includes a chapter on these partnerships in "Becoming Dead Right."

Parker has been honored with the Service-Learning Trailblazer Award presented by the National Service-Learning Partnership. Other honors include the Outstanding Education Administrator Award presented by the Metropolitan Detroit Alliance of Black School Educators, and the Educator of the Year Award presented by the Wayne State University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, an international, professional fraternity for educators. Her writing has received awards from Writer's Digest, the Poetry Society of Michigan, the Detroit Writer's Guild, Broadside Press, and the New Orleans Public Library. Parker's website is www.FrancesShaniParker.com.

Editorial Reviews

The writing is eloquent and powerful, and the stories are instructive and lasting. After finishing this book, I wanted to do more for other individuals who are dying, for as Ms. Parker so clearly imparts, the dying teach us so much about living well.-- Dr. Peter A. Lichtenberg, Director, Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

Lichtenberg - Peter Lichtenberg, M.D.

This book is filled with poetry, stories, wisdom and common sense that can help boomers, students, caregivers and policy makers understand their own aging and realize that our society can - and should - make important changes that can ensure safe, dignified, individualized care at the end of our lives. Alice Hedt, Executive Director, National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform

Hedt - Alice Hedt

A school principal and hospice volunteer, Frances Shani Parker relates her experiences with dying people in nursing homes. The second part of her book is about what we as individuals and as a society must do to improve things for those who are dying. I particularly enjoyed the guided tour, conducted from a wheelchair, of Baby Boomer Haven. -- Dr. Roger Woodruff, Director of Palliative Care, International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Austin Heath, Melbourne, Australia

Woodruff - Roger Woodruff, M.D.