Having respect for and an awareness of the individual differences and cultural diversity of those served by hospice is vital to providing compassionate care. Join this group to discuss issues related to serving culturally diverse communities.

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  • Frances Shani Parker September 27, 2008 at 9:17pm
    Welcome to Hospice Community Forum, Chioma. Thanks for your response. This is a good place to be if you are just starting your hospice journey. I wish you the best. Frances
  • Chioma Adaku-Griffin September 27, 2008 at 5:34pm
    As a woman of color who has just begun this hospice journey, I know all to well of the suspicions and the effort it takes to develop alliances in the community from families and other hospice agencies.
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11 fascinating funeral traditions from around the globe

Link to article on TED: Click here The funerals I’ve attended have all been very much the same. Relatives and friends arrive in all black and take seats in the church or synagogue pews for a somber ceremony where prayers are said, memories are shared and tears are shed. The attendees walk slowly out to their cars and form a single file line a behind the hearse, arriving at the graveyard where they place roses on the casket just before it’s lowered into the ground. Then, they proceed to the…

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Started by Greg Schneider
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Life that doesn't end with death

Here is link to an interesting TED video on rituals. In Tana Toraja, weddings and births aren’t the social gatherings that knit society together. In this part of Indonesia, big, raucous funerals form the center of social life. Anthropologist Kelli Swazey takes a look at this culture, in which the bodies of dead relatives are cared for even years after they have passed. While it sounds strange to Western sensibilities, she says, this could actually be a truer reflection of the fact that…

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Started by Greg Schneider
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Request: What is Your Hospice Organization Doing to Promote Cultural Diversity? (May 8, 2009 Deadline)

I would like to recognize your hospice organization on a future blog post I am doing on my own blog titled “Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog.” I will showcase what various hospice organizations around the country are doing to promote cultural diversity. If I collect the information here, everyone else at this site can read your responses, too. Would you please state some of the activities your organization does? Be sure to include your name, position, the name of your hospice organization, city,…

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Started by Frances Shani Parker
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Reaching a Diverse Population

Our Hospice started an ACCESS committee in order to identify, educate, and serve populations that we do not currently serve. We have contacted the local NAACP president, who in turn forwarded information about us to all minority churches in our city. We also will be making a presentation at an NAACP meeting and offering free health screenings at local minority churches. We also changed the photos on our brochures to ensure that a diverse population is represented. Any other ideas on how to…

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Started by Julie Cranz
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Recently Published!!
by Maryclaire Torinus

Surviving Hospice: A Chaplain's Journey into the Big Business of Dying Plus: How To Find a Trustworthy Hospice 

This narrative is an insider’s look into the hijacking of hospice by private equity and professional investors and the subsequent harm to patients, their families, and to the interdisciplinary clinical teams. It was released by a NYC publisher on October 31, 2023. For sale on Amazon.

The author, a hospice chaplain, tells end-of-life stories of her patients who were harmed by financially-motivated policies. This is a book for anyone who is embarking on making a choice about a hospice for their loved one, working chaplains, those in training, and those interested in what dying is like with a hospice who places patients as their primary stakeholders.

Maryclaire's experience working for an owner who sold to a private equity firm helped her to realize that the reputation and viability of hospice is in jeopardy. Her goal is to alert all who love hospice to rid it of professional investors.

— Stacy Juba, author, editor, and award-winning health journalist

"Powerful, beautifully written, and eye-opening, this book spotlights the inner workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry and the effect on patients, families, and hospice staff. The author shares poignant accounts of hospice at its best and worst and the hard-hitting truths she learned on her journey. A must-read for family members exploring hospice care."

— Laura Kukowski, CEO, editor, For-Profit Badger Hospice, LLC

"Maryclaire Torinus speaks with authority, providing this essential handbook for choosing a hospice care team and why that selection really matters."

— Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care 

"When I first found out that Maryclaire Torinus was writing this book, I immediately contacted her because in my 25+ years supporting hospice volunteers, I have seen a gradual decline in the quality of care volunteers are permitted to provide the dying and their families. There are a variety of reasons for this that I describe in the Foreward of this book. Maryclaire provides invaluable insights that everyone should know, along with solutions to help others make the right choice in choosing a hospice."

Buy Now