We sat down with Matt Kennedy to talk about his beautiful work creating unique urns using a tattoo machine. 

According to his website ceramicarttattoo.com, Matt is “a self-taught ceramic artist with an international reputation whose professional career has spanned more than 20 years as a ceramic artist. He’s the first artist to use a tattoo machine as a carving tool on ceramics. Matthew’s art work is featured in many offline & online galleries. Matthew’s art mediums are ceramic and enameling making unique use of vibrant pigments & colors for each piece.... Matthew hand carves each design element for every piece.” 

You’re going to love hearing Matt’s story and the connections he creates between himself, tattoo designs, and his clients. Customized to capture the essence of someone’s life, Matt’s creations will inspire you with their strength and gentle beauty.  Check out his support for the homeless community as well.  

How did your Social Media Fast go?  On this week’s Heartbeat we spend some time talking honestly about the challenges we experienced.  Before we were even halfway through our 2 week Social Media Fast, we realized this was not going to be easy! 

Bouncing between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn has taken up a lot of our time. Being intentional about how we spend our screen time has definitely revealed just how much time we’ve been wasting on social media. 

How did you fill the hours you typically spent on social media? Is this going to be a permanent change for you? For us, there are some opportunities for some healthy habit changes.

For more inspiration for your healthy Self Care regimen, visit us at theheartofhospice.com.  You’re always welcome and we’re glad to be connected with you!  No matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice.    

Every patient in hospice care has a plan of care that’s designed by the hospice interdisciplinary team.  The patient voices what he or she wants and needs, and then the hospice team determines how we can safely, legally, and ethically meet those needs.  Often team members disagree with what the patient wants. We bring our own biases and personal preferences to the care we provide - and they get in the way.  The patient gets to decide the kind of care he receives. Quality of life means something different to everybody. What biases do you bring to the care of your patient?  If you’re an unpaid caregiver, are you able to respect and honor the wishes of your loved one? It’s important to know where patient wishes and caregiver preferences stop and start.  Make the patient’s goals your goals, and keep them at the center of the Plan of Care. Visit the Listen page on theheartofhospice.com to find more episodes on hospice care and philosophy and how the interdisciplinary team works.  No matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice!

How connected are you to social media?  If you find yourself overly connected to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever social media platform you use, maybe a time of disconnection would be healthy. 

We’re challenging you to do a 2-week Social Media Fast. We’ll be doing it at the same time. Try using social media just for work needs. Set your cell phone and devices aside when you sit down to a meal.  Give your undivided attention to family and friends, faith practices, workouts, and quiet times for yourself.

Let us know how your Social Media Fast went by posting on our Facebook page - any tips about what worked for you would be welcomed!  We’ll keep you updated on how Jerry and Helen are managing this “electronic fasting”. Maybe it will become part of our healthy self care practices.

For more information on self care for both professional and unpaid caregivers, check out our resources at theheartofhospice.com.  Good luck with your self care challenge! 

Rachel Giger is a certified end of life coach with a mission to support hospice physicians.  While working as a volunteer, she identified that physicians need education about having end of life discussions, and the support to be comfortable with those talks.

Now she provides one-on-one consulting to doctors who find themselves at a loss for words and feeling the burden of compassion fatigue. Through Rachel’s consulting service Mortal MD, doctors can find discreet tutoring to create skills to have those difficult conversations and learn healthy ways to cope with the emotional burnout that’s unique to physicians. 

In her interview with us, Rachel shares her energy for supporting our doctors as they take care of our patients. Check out her work at https://rgccoaching.com/ to get information about the specialized services she provides! 

You can find more information about self care for healthcare professionals as well as unpaid caregivers at The Heart of Hospice website.  We’re grateful to be connected with you! 

We’re delighted to offer you this encore episode of our interview with grief expert David Kessler. David is currently touring the U.S. offering a daylong seminar related to his newest book Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief.  

David is bringing his seminar to Texas in February to the following cities. 

• Dallas, February 11
• Houston, February 13
• Austin, February 19
• San Antonio, February 20

Please visit Grief.com to find out when David will be in your area.  For hospice professionals, David is offering a discount of $100 off the regular seminar when you register by using special discount code “DK100” at checkout.  This seminar is for hospice professionals of all disciplines, counselors, therapists, psychologists, and funeral directors. 

Please enjoy this encore episode and be sure to visit The Heart of Hospice website for more information about grief and bereavement. 

Grieving a loss looks a little different for each person and grief from losing a child has its own unique qualities.  Parents Jane Harris and Jimmy Edmonds know first hand what that loss feels like. Their film “A Love That Never Dies” focuses on their struggle to figure out how to grieve the death of their son.  According to their website https://alovethatneverdiesfilm.com/, Jane and Jimmy’s son Josh died six years ago while travelling in SE Asia. “As a way of honouring his memory, they set off on their own road trip across the USA to find out why, in a world where death will always make front page news, real life conversations about death, dying and bereavement are so problematic.  Along the way they find other bereaved families with stories of grief that refuse social expectations about moving on or letting go. In a culture that is still uneasy talking about death, dying and bereavement it gives a voice to grief in ways that will move and inspire.”  Watch the film on their website to hear the story of their grief journey.  For more resources on grief and bereavement, check out theheartofhospice.com.  We’re glad to connect with you - you are The Heart of Hospice. 

There’s a brand new year in front of us - 12 months full of possibilities!  It can be healthy to review your 2019 events. We are amazed at our new connections - Frank Ostaseski, Jon Prescott, Ellen Goodman, Phil Alvarez.  Helen met Barbara Karnes in person!

Looking at the year ahead provides opportunities to make changes and improvements.

• Self care should be a top priority - make it healthy, find an accountability partner, and create those habits that work best for you. 
• If you’re a professional working in end of life care, be a mentor for someone who’s new to the profession.
• Strengthen your team and the hospice industry by providing leadership and support for your coworkers.
• Nurture connections that help you to thrive, both personally and professionally. 
• Seek out opportunities for education - webinars, TED talks, podcasts, conferences - so many options!

What are your goals for the year ahead? Make 2020 your best hospice year yet! You are The Heart of Hospice.

The Heart of Hospice is excited to connect you with Melissa Lunardini! Melissa is a children’s bereavement manager overseeing a large children’s bereavement program for a hospice agency in California.  Melissa holds an MA in Psychology and an MBA, and is the owner of Tribal Grief, a consulting service that offers expert assistance with grief camps for kids, grief and traumatic loss, school-based programming, and crisis response. 

Jerry and Helen talked with Melissa about her work with kids who are grieving or have experienced a violent death, and she shared her experiences working in a challenging but incredibly rewarding field. You can connect with Melissa at tribalgrief.com.  

Other children’s grief resources mentioned in this episode:

• National Alliance for Grieving Children
• Center for Loss
• The Dougy Center
• Good Grief
• New York Life Foundation
• Coalition to Support Grieving Students
• Centering.org
• Elizabeth Hospice

Find more resources about hospice, including information about hospice philosophy and interdisciplinary teams by visiting theheartofhospice.com.  No matter where you are in your hospice journey, we’re glad you found The Heart of Hospice! 

Ever wonder how we came up with the tagline that you hear at the end of every one of The Heart of Hospice podcasts?  When we got ready to launch our first episode, Jerry and Helen put a lot of thought into who our audience would be, and how they would connect with our end of life discussions. 

Whether you’re a patient or a provider, a grieving parent or a grieving child, your journey is at the heart of our mission. Hospice and palliative care professionals put their hearts into the work they do every day.  We feel it’s our job to support and encourage you.

If The Heart of Hospice brings you some comfort or information that you are searching for, then we know we’ve gotten something right. Remember - no matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, you are The Heart of Hospice.