Greg Schneider's Posts

Curious About How the End of Life Might Go?

Posted by Greg Schneider on November 13, 2015 at 2:30pm

The latest blog post from our [Fear of Death: A Fear of Life] series from the HEAL (Hospice Educators Affirming Life) Project and the Hospice Volunteer Association

David Schneider, BBC Radio Show Host, talks to palliative care consultant Kathryn Mannix about what dying is like

David Schneider is terrified of death.

In his two editions of One to One he wants to try to overcome his fear by talking to those who have first-hand understanding of dying. In this programme, he talks to Palliative Care consultant, Kathryn Mannix.

With almost forty years of clinical experience and witnessing over twelve thousand deaths, she believes that a 'good death' is possible even when you are seriously ill.

She explains the process of dying to David. This, she believes, if accepted by the patient, removes much of the anxiety and fear surrounding the end of life.

To listen to the interview click here and scroll down to the [Fear of Death] section of HVA's National Hospice Document Repository (NHDR).

Greg Schneider
Founding Director/CEO, HEAL Project
Founder & President, HVA

National Hospice Document Repository (NHDR) - Volunteer Manager Resource

Posted by Greg Schneider on October 18, 2015 at 9:57pm

The Hospice Volunteer Association (HVA) has developed a number of free and useful resources for hospice volunteer programs. One is the National Hospice Document Repository (NHDR) which is brought to all HCF members as a public service to the hospice community and the general public. This repository is the largest collection of documents and articles relating to hospice and end-of-life (EOL) care in the world. Some of the ways that this repository will assist the community are:

NHDR Document Index provides a list of document categories as well as descriptions of each document. The repository is primarily for hospice volunteer coordinators/managers to share training materials, volunteer program descriptions, volunteer job descriptions, outreach brochures, etc. with their colleagues.
to inform hospice volunteer coordinators/managers about resources available to them for making their jobs easier and assisting them in training their volunteers.
to share information relating to events, conferences, retreats and workshops that would be of value and interest to the hospice volunteer community.
to share articles and other types of information that would be of interest to the hospice community.

NHDR Article Search provides a Google search of hundreds of articles in the repository. You will find hundreds of articles across the following categories:

[Advance Directives]
[Alternative Therapies]
[Awards]
[Bereavement]
[Business]
[Children]
[Communications]
[Cultural]
[Death & Dying]
[EOL Care]
[Euthanasia]
[Ethics]
[Families]
[Healthcare]
[Home Funerals]
[Hospice]
[Nursing]
[Palliative Care]
[Patient Privacy Act HIPAA]
[Pet Hospice]
[Prison Hospice]
[Psychology]
[Rituals in Dying]
[Spirituality]
[Training]
[Volunteering]

Greg Schneider
Founder & President, HVA

New Blog from HVA & the HEAL Project -- [Fear of Death: A Fear of Life]

Posted by Greg Schneider on April 8, 2015 at 10:00am

[Fear of Death: A Fear of Life] A new series from the HEAL (Hospice Educators Affirming Life) Project and the Hospice Volunteer Association

Often our fear of death is associated with the unknown. Anita Moorjani was interviewed on the Today Show about her own Near Death Experience (NDE), which gives us some insight into what dying may be like.

“Within four days [of the NDE], my tumors shrunk by 70 percent, and the doctors were shocked...” Anita's story was fully vetted by medical researchers and confirmed that her recovery from cancer could not be attributed to medical treatment because it was impossible for the body to expel that many cancer cells in 4 days. It is an astonishing story that baffled the researchers. You can find her original report on the NDE Research website at the link below. She has written an inspiring book describing her life experience up to and including the NDE titled "Dying To Be Me."

http://www.nderf.org/

Full article and video interview from Today Show: click here

Greg Schneider
Founding Director/CEO, HEAL Project
Founder & President, HVA

Attracting New Volunteers

Posted by Greg Schneider on July 28, 2011 at 7:46am

If your hospice needs new volunteers, most do, what is your recruiting perspective?

Do you recruit thinking only of the needs of your hospice -- am I going to make that 5% target this month or do you consider the needs of the potential volunteer pool?

Being a volunteer myself, who has a busy schedule, I prefer to volunteer with hospices that are conscious of the limited amount of time I have. Unfortunately all of the hospices I volunteer with in my local area are not using an electronic form of reporting such as HVA's Patient Data Vault. I am constantly having to deal with paper and envelopes. When I run out of forms or envelopes I have to have them mail me a new supply, sometimes delaying my form submittal. Then I have to find a mail box, which is hard to find these days, or get to a post office. I find it to be a hassle, knowing that better alternatives are available. If I knew a hospice had easier reporting methods, I would change hospices.

How To Be More Successful in Your Volunteer Recruiting

If you want more volunteers to consider joining your organization, you need to update your management and reporting tools. Your probabilities of getting a volunteer to come to your hospice if you are still pushing paper and mailing envelopes will be less in this day and age. Younger volunteers and computer savvy professionals will favor a competitor that is using the Patient Data Vault (PDV), over a hospice that does not use a computer-based reporting tool that is accessible via the Internet.

If you are using the PDV, use it as a marketing tool!! Put it in your advertising. Also add that members will receive free memberships to HVA upon completion of their training if they come to your hospice. There are many resources that are valuable to new volunteers that are about to make a life changing choice of serving those who are dying. Successful recruiting is about making your hospice stand out compared to its competitors. Let HVA help you improve your recruiting odds!!

Hospices located in college towns can draw college students easier if they advertise that they care about the volunteer's time and that they use the latest technologies such as the PDV, which allows volunteers to easily submit reports and communicate with their volunteers about patient-related activities using the latest technologies, including text messaging.

If you are interested in trying HVA's inexpensive PDV service, which many hospices have been using for several years, contact HVA at (866) 489-4325. It will improve that care that you provide and make you volunteers happier and your volunteer program more efficient.

Greg Schneider
President, HVA

Good Blog to Check Out

Posted by Greg Schneider on July 26, 2011 at 7:00am

This blog post is about a long-time HCF member that has her own blog, Frances Shani Parker. I'm sure you have heard from her many times on the HCF. Frances is a very dedicated hospice volunteer and an author.

I hope you will check out her blog: Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog at http://hospiceandnursinghomes.blogspot.com/

Check it out, it is filled with good info.

Greg Schneider
HCF Creator
President, HVA

The Big Lie

Posted by Greg Schneider on January 31, 2010 at 11:43am

[My comments: Tolstoy's novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, provides insight into the life of a high court judge in 19th-century Russia who left serious reflection on his own life until hours before his death. The process of dying, which for him started after the realization that his illness was not going to improve -- no matter what his doctors told him, was physically and emotionally painful. His suffering was perpetuated up until the very moment of his death by what he referred to as The Big Lie.] Supporting Others at the End of Life At some point in our lives most of us will be required confront the death of a friend or loved one. Some of us will be bold and brave enough to offer our support to a friend or family member throughout their dying process, while the rest of us will attempt to support a friend or family member from the periphery in the best way we know how. Generally speaking our society approaches a death situation with trepidation because we are not sure how to handle it. What should I say? Will I say the wrong thing? Can I be in the presence of someone dying or will the realization of my own mortality be too much to face? This reluctance and ultimate aversion to face a death situation with open eyes and open mind may satisfy the needs of the person who is not dying but the person who is dying can incur incredible suffering by our lack of willingness to accept the situation for what it is. The book refers to this aversion as The Big Lie. The following excerpt from the book expresses Ivan’s frustration with all of those around him who seemed to ignore the fact that he was dying:

Ivan Ilyich suffered most of all from the lie, the lie which, for some reason, everyone accepted: that he was not dying but was simply ill, and that if he stayed calm and underwent treatment he could expect good results. Yet he knew that regardless of what was done, all he could expect was more agonizing suffering and death. And he was tortured by this lie, tortured by the fact that they refused to acknowledge what he and everyone else knew, that they wanted to lie about his horrible condition and to force him to become a party to that lie. This lie, a lie perpetrated on the eve of his death, a lie that was bound to degrade the awesome, solemn act of his dying to the level of their social calls, their draperies, and the sturgeon they ate for dinner, was an excruciating torture for Ivan Ilyich. And, oddly enough, many times when they were going through their acts with him he came within a hairbreadth of shouting: "Stop your lying! You and I know that I'm dying, so at least stop lying!" But he never had the courage to do it. He saw that the awesome, terrifying act of his dying had been degraded by those about him to the level of a chance unpleasantness, a bit of unseemly behavior (they reacted to him as they would to a man who emitted a foul odor on entering a drawing room); that it had been degraded by that very "propriety" to which he had devoted his entire life. He saw that no one pitied him because no one even cared to understand his situation.

This excerpt illustrates the complexity of the situation and how it can result in suffering for the person who is dying. While Ivan was a prominent court judge in his career, he still found it difficult to openly express his own frustration with the situation. Had he felt more supported by those around him, he likely would have felt more comfortable expressing why he was unhappy with others, which would have benefited him immensely at the end of his life. Creating a safe environment that permits open communication is so important. Compassionate Caregiving Helps to Alleviate Suffering

Hospice volunteers are trained to be very sensitive to the potential emotional and physical suffering of the dying as well as the impact that has on friends and family. You can help to alleviate some of the suffering of someone who is dying by not avoiding the situation and being willing to talk truthfully about someone's impending death. This does not mean that you have to focus on the topic when you come to visit them but rather be open to the possibility of a discussion if the opportunity arises. Let your dying friend or loved one lead the way. In my experience the discussion may take a very circuitous path as the person who is dying relaxes and finds the ease and courage to bring you into this most intimate discussion. Here are some thoughts from Ivan on this topic as he discusses how his caregiver Gerasim is the only one who seems to understand:

Gerasim was the only one who did not lie; everything he did showed that he alone understood what was happening, saw no need to conceal it, and simply pitied his feeble, wasted master. Once, as Ivan Ilyich was sending him away, he came right out and said: "We all have to die someday, so why shouldn't I help you?" By this he meant that he did not find his work a burden because he was doing it for a dying man, and he hoped that someone would do the same for him when his time came. In addition to the lie, or owing to it, what tormented Ivan Ilyich most was that no one gave him the kind of compassion he craved. There were moments after long suffering when what he wanted most of all (shameful as it might be for him to admit) was to be pitied like a sick child. He wanted to be caressed, kissed, cried over, as sick children are caressed and comforted. He knew that he was an important functionary with a graying beard, and so this was impossible; yet all the same he longed for it. There was something approaching this in his relationship with Gerasim, and so the relationship was a comfort to him. Ivan Ilyich wanted to cry, wanted to be caressed and cried over, yet his colleague Shebek, a member of the court, would come, and instead of crying and getting some affection, Ivan Ilyich would assume a serious, stern, profound expression and, by force of habit, offer his opinion about a decision by the Court of Appeals and stubbornly defend it. Nothing did so much to poison the last days of Ivan Ilyich's life as this falseness in himself and in those around him.

If you are in a situation where you have a friend or loved one who is going through their dying process, you may find our resources helpful. Visit the Hospice Volunteer Association website and our Hospice Community Forum. If you are dealing with the serious illness of a child, you will also find our Hannah's Friends website helpful. Greg Schneider Founder & President Hospice Volunteer Association

Providing Hospice Services in 2009

Posted by Greg Schneider on January 8, 2009 at 11:30am

I think we can all agree that 2008 was one of the more challenging years in recent decades for our planet and its inhabitants. Those challenges have also fostered a new sense of hope for the future as we begin 2009. The hospice sector of the healthcare industry continues to be a rapidly growing business sector in spite of the economic slowdown. The number of patients served by hospice has nearly doubled since 2000 to 1,300,000 in 2006. However, economic pressures due to the recent financial crisis and the unabated rise in healthcare costs will continue to force the hospice community to be cautious in its choices for bringing care to those who are dying. Competitive forces are also at work -- the number of hospice providers grew by almost 50% from 2003-2006 while the number of patients served by hospice grew by only 30% over the same period. Professionally managed volunteer programs within hospice organizations can help ease these financial pressures. The return on investment for well-run volunteer programs can bring major benefits to hospices. The number of For-Profit hospice service providers has been growing rapidly over this same time period. In the 2003-2006 time period the number of Not-For-Profit hospice service providers has not had any significant change while the For-Profit sector has nearly doubled. It is anticipated the number of For-Profit service providers, which are presently about equal to the number of Not-For-Profit hospice service providers, will overtake the Not-For-Profit sector and become the dominant sector in the next 5 years. This dynamic will continue to place increasing pressure on hospice administrators in Not-For-Profit agencies to pay greater attention to their costs of doing business. It is one of the Hospice Volunteer Association's goals for 2009 to help hospices improve the efficiencies associated with running their volunteer programs by offering cost-saving services to its member hospices. A few examples are: -- HVA frequently receives requests from individuals who wish to serve their communities through hospice volunteering. If you are an HVA member hospice, your hospice automatically receives first priority on referrals of new volunteers. -- HVA publishes its quarterly HV News e-magazine as an excellent educational resource that has information about hospice volunteering and volunteer management that you will find nowhere else. If your hospice is a member of HVA, all of your volunteers are permitted to join HVA for free and utilize this resource. We encourage you to market your hospice's volunteer program by advertising that volunteers will be given a free membership when they complete the training. Use this to give your hospice a competitive edge!! -- HVA's Patient Data Vault service can greatly enhance your volunteer program. Volunteers are also more apt to join your hospice when you show them how you have made the reporting aspects of being a volunteer so easy -- to say nothing of the operational and cost efficiencies volunteer managers will experience in their programs and the communications with their volunteers. We also hope to launch our Hospice Volunteer Training Institute in 2009, which will bring an exciting new perspective to training volunteers. We encourage members to give us feedback about the HCF. The features of the HCF continue to grow and improve. If you are interested in getting more involved in the HCF Community, please let me know. This year we are encouraging all of you to initiate new discusssions with your questions and to make more contributions to the discussion groups. We wish all HCF members a most healthy and happy 2009!! Greg Schneider HCF Creator/Founder President, HVA

HIPAA and Computers – Vigilance Required

Posted by Greg Schneider on September 30, 2008 at 4:00pm

Today I posted an article about Providence Health & Services, a Seattle-based non-profit health system, fined $100,000 as part of a settlement agreement with federal regulators for HIPAA violations relating to computer operations involving Protected Health Information (PHI) of over 386,000 patients. Using computers is a necessity if hospice organizations want to operate with the required financial efficiencies that will ensure their survival in the marketplace, especially at a time when Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is reducing hospice reimbursement rates. Also as more and more for-profit companies are entering the hospice care field, competition is only going to get tougher. Attention to the bottom line will have an ever-increasing significance. Is Your Hospice in Compliance? The number of ways that a hospice can unknowingly violate HIPAA with respect to EPHI is numerous. Having a good Information Technology (IT) staff is a good start but does your IT staff have a good understanding of the HIPAA Security Rule? I frequently communicate with volunteer coordinators/managers on this issue and it is clear that hospices have many questions about what you can and cannot do with computer EPHI data. The questions cover a wide range of topics, many of which some hospices are completely unaware that such topics even warrant consideration. Here are some examples of questions to ask yourself, if you are managing a department that is using computers at your hospice: 1. Do you use e-mail to transmit patient information to or from a volunteer? 2. Do you use e-mail attachments to transmit patient information to or from a volunteer? 3. Do you attempt to get around HIPAA by sanitizing (i.e. anonymizing) patient data before sending it by e-mail? 4. Do you store patient data on removable storage media such as a USB stick? All of these questions represent commonly occurring situations and all of them could result in your hospice being faced with criminal penalties for violations of HIPAA. Need Help with HIPAA? Contact HVA The Hospice Volunteer Association (HVA) is working with hospices to help them reduce the potential HIPAA violations risks associated with PHI related computer operations. HVA recently initiated a program called the Patient Data Vault (PDV) which allows hospices to securely transmit, store and retrieve Electronic Protected Health Information (EPHI).

Please Don't Be Shy!!

Posted by Greg Schneider on April 22, 2008 at 11:01am

When you become a member of the Hospice Community Forum, don't be shy!! I have been an active member of the hospice community for over a decade. Because of my experience as a patient care volunteer, as a participant on the NHPCO list serves and as the founder of the Hospice Volunteer Association, I recognize many of the names of people who are joining the forum.

It is great to be able to finally match names with faces -- I'm sure others are equally pleased. You can upload your photo at any time. Some have chosen to upload a favorite photo of a flower or a pet instead of their own image-- that's OK too but we would all enjoy the opportunity to put your face to your name.

I look forward to getting to know more of you!!

Greg Schneider HCF Founder, Manager

Welcome to the Hospice Community Forum

Posted by Greg Schneider on April 20, 2008 at 3:44pm

I am very pleased to announce the establishment of the Hospice Community Forum (HCF) on behalf of the Hospice Volunteer Association (HVA). The features available in this forum offer many ways for the community to share information. Don't hesitate to experiment with the available features. The HCF is a powerful tool and HVA will be developing the forum to facilitate more communication between the hospices of the world. The net result will be improved professional development for all hospice disciplines. Invite colleagues and professionals that are involved in palliative and end-of-life care. We have established some groups that will fulfill the needs of most of the hospice disciplines but those are just a starting point. As the forum grows, the diversity of the membership will grow leading to a need for more specialized groups. We encourage members to start their own blog within a group. If you would like to moderate a group or create your own group, let me know and we will help you set it up. The Internet has proven itself to be an incredibly powerful communication tool. Let's take advantage of the technology so that the dying and their families can benefit from this forum because we are learning from each other. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have suggestions for this forum. Greg Schneider Founder and Manager Hospice Community Forum