… you may be surprised at the answer. This is supported by the experience of many of us as well as this article about the use of feeding tubes or gentle hand feeding in nursing homes.
how to evaluate a nursing home … Read More »
The Sick Child Edvard Munch Read the commentary in Journal of Medicine & the Person.
entering the loneliness of the other … Read More »
… He knew how to listen. He listened intensely. He was not listening for the slip where he could introduce a wedge of condemnation, but so that he could grasp all the energy of the hidden spring from which words pour forth. And when he answered, he would unveil prospects that attracted his interlocutor, like
on how to listen … Read More »
… Robert Pollack shares his thoughts on our modern day rituals of death … “The current hospital response of science to the dying … goes something like this: “You have had the misfortune to be born too soon to benefit from science’s ever deeper comprehension of nature. That is too bad, but since we can
a biologist’s reflections on pain, dying, and hope … Read More »
“Being whole doesn’t mean being more than who you are this very moment. It means being who you are this very moment. It means accepting the parts of yourself that used to make you ashamed, or feel small. These are the parts of yourself that will allow you to connect to other people, allow you
on being whole … serving others from our need … Read More »
Frank Ostaseski’s Five Precepts of Service lend a strong foundation to the work of accompaniment … The Fifth Precept: Cultivate Don’t-Know Mind. This describes a mind that’s open and receptive. A mind that’s not limited by agendas, roles and expectations. The great Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi, was fond of saying, “In the beginner’s mind there
cultivate ‘don’t know’ mind … Read More »
… a program that brings medical students to the bedsides of those dying alone.
being attentive to the dying … Read More »
Frank Ostaseski’s Five Precepts of Service lend a strong foundation to the work of accompaniment … The Fourth Precept: Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things. We often think of rest as something that will come when everything else is complete, like when we go on a holiday or when our work
find a place of rest … in the middle of things Read More »
Elvira Parravicini discusses Icarus’ fall and its relation to caring for those in need. “suffering and sickness are unavoidable and ultimately are the premonition of death. Chagall depicts the falling Icarus welcomed by the people of the town with open arms, with tenderness and compassion. In history, care for the sick came about this way,
chagall’s ‘the fall of icarus’ … Read More »
Frank Ostaseski’s Five Precepts of Service lend a strong foundation to the work of accompaniment … The Third Precept: Don’t Wait. Patience is different than waiting. When we wait, we are full of expectations. When we’re waiting, we miss what this moment has to offer. Worrying or strategizing about what the future holds for us,
