Reminiscing Corner: Celebrating Our Hospice Social Workers

In celebration of our social workers, we invited the special team at Hospice Care of the West to a Reminiscing Corner. Take a moment to click and watch the video below and you will be moved by wisdom and reflections of these women who spend every day devoted to patients and families.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht9Dj6DJIJo

At Our Reminiscing Corner, Jay Gianukos, a life-story documentary filmmaker, set up a video camera to record and preserve the stories of these social workers for hospice care. They work within a multi-disciplinary team at hospice to provide psychosocial support to the patient and family often in the midst of chaos as they confront

the realities of a life-changing illness. End of life is not only a physical journey that must be cared for by the doctor and nurse, but we call on social workers to help translate

and prepare for the social, mental and emotional experiences of life’s final frontier. These social workers light the darkness of life’s twilight, provide a map and plan for the days ahead in what often feels like unknown territory. Each day, they ask the kinds of questions that can yield insight for how last wishes can be transformed into a lived realities. With the support of the social worker, families extinguish fears and come together to create a sacred space around the bedside for sharing intimate, meaningful time reflecting on memorable times and hopes for the future.

They are our keepers of generational wisdom that was once held by our ancestors and passed down through our communal rituals around birth and death. Due to end of life occurring for over a century in institutions, families and communities have lost this wisdom. With the widespread acceptance of hospice care more people are spending their last days in the familiar comforts of family and community. Our social workers light the way to easy the transition and guide the family. These women are such a gift and resource to hospice patients and their families through the trying hours of end of life and bereavement. We would be lost without your guidance. Thank you for your wisdom and sharing some of the life experiences that shape how you transform the final stage of life for patients, families and communities.

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3 comments

  1. Debbie Robson

    In hospice, Social Workers are often the calm in the room who give perspective and voice that guide patient and family autonomy. They are an integral part of the hospice team. I am proud of the Social Workers at Hospice Care of the West.

    Deb Robson
    Executive Director
    Hospice Care of the West

  2. Vanessa Shaffer

    I’m proud to be a social worker for Hospice Care of the West! This organization allows it’s social workers to spend time with the patients and families to really listen to their stories. When all else is almost gone, they still have the stories of their life. Legacy Therapy is what it could be called. Allowing the time and space for someone who is approaching death to reminisce, reflect, report history, bestow widsom and share themselves is an honor and priviledge. To companion the dying and really hear their story is something many people don’t receive from others. Within their story is where the social worker finds the answers to the needs of the patient and their families at end of life.


  3. Post author
    denise

    Vanessa,
    You are truly an asset to Hospice Care of the West and to all the families who receive the gift of your guidance into this unknown territory we call end of life. Your wise questions often lead patients and their families on a journey into the past that transforms bedside time into memorable moments of life reflection and celebration! Thank you for inspiring this Reminiscing Corner to honor the calling and mission of our social workers.
    With gratitude,
    Denise Carson

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