With the new year upon us, many people take it as an opportunity to change and grow beyond the person they were in the past year. With this in mind, is there anything you can do in the next year to get yourself ready if hospice palliative care is required for you or a loved one?
Let’s go over some of the things that should be on your Hospice New Year’s resolutions list.
First of all, it’s important to note that all the things mentioned in this article are something that you can do right now and are generally good practice to have in place regardless of your current health. It’s never too early to think about end-of-life processes!
The first thing you can do for your hospice new year’s resolutions is to talk to your family about death – both yours and theirs. The new year is the perfect time to make sure that your loved ones know your wishes should you be unable to communicate them when you’re near death.
It’s also important to ask anyone in your life who may be getting older what their wishes are when they die. Some people may not be as open to talking about death as they should be, so just approach the topic with a bit of care. One method can be to ask them if they are okay with you choosing what happens when they die rather than themselves, because that will be what happens if you don’t talk about it. That can be a good way to begin the conversation around death.
On a similar note, another hospice resolution you can make is to create your advance care plan. It’s one thing for your loved ones to know what you want for your end-of-life care, but it’s always better to have it in writing in case something is forgotten or unclear to whoever may be providing your care. For more information on Advance Care Planning, visit hospicequinte.ca.
Next is to consider Swedish Death Cleaning. In a nutshell, it’s the idea that you go through the items in your home with the idea that you will die in the near future. Will you still need those items if you were to die in the next month (or whatever period of time you choose)? It’s become a popular cleaning method to pare down some of the excess items you have in your home.
It’s also a good way to begin categorizing items that are important to you or want to pass on to someone else. Maybe if you have something like an heirloom or a keepsake that means something to you that you were intending on handing down to your child or someone else close to you, consider doing that now rather than when you die. Those are just a few of the benefits of Swedish death cleaning, and we also have an episode covering that topic as well if you want to know more. It’s likely cleaning up the house was on the list for the new year anyway, so why not do it in a death conscious way?
Another important item on your hospice resolutions should be to learn to be comfortable with the language of death. When someone dies, refrain from using euphemisms like “passed away” or “moved on”. At Hospice Quinte, we prefer to use the correct and accurate terms surrounding death to convey the seriousness of the situation. Using softer phrases is a way of avoiding talking about the reality of death, so the more you work on understanding death and the processes involved in it, the easier it will be to remove the stigmas around death and dying that can sometimes prevent people from seeking the care that they need at the end of their life.
Finally, you should consider making a resolution to work on a legacy project, or help someone with theirs. There’s no time like the present to do that thing you’ve always wanted to do, so why not do it now while you are able to rather than risk the chance that something may prevent you from doing it in the future? As well, if you know someone who is getting older, is sick or with lower mobility, why not lend a hand to that person to work on something that they’ve had planned for a long time? Paint that painting, finish that project, write that novel, or run that marathon. Whatever you consider to be your life’s work, why not take the time now to accomplish it?
These are just a few of the things you can put on your hospice new year’s resolutions list. Death is not always an easy subject for people to talk or even think about, but it can be healthy to do some preparation for death and dying to make things easier when you inevitably do have to face it, whether it be yours or the death of a loved one. To stay up to date on all things Hospice Quinte and maybe get some more ideas for your new year’s resolutions, consider subscribing to the monthly newsletter at hospicequinte.ca. You can learn about all the upcoming events and programs, as well as what’s happening around the Stan Klemencic Care Centre.
Hospice Quinte provides individuals, their families, and caregivers with compassionate end of life care, by attending to their physical, psychosocial, and practical needs, and offering empathetic care to those who are grieving through visiting hospice services and support groups. All Hospice Quinte programs and services are provided by compassionate, well-trained volunteers and staff at no charge to the individual or their family. We serve a population of over 110,000 in Quinte West, Belleville, Deseronto, Tyendinaga Township and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
