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."
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With nearly 2.5 million men and women behind bars and a large
percentage of them serving long-term sentences, end-of-life concerns in
the correctional setting are rapidly becoming a critical issue.
An award-winning filmmaker at the University of Illinois at Chicago is
working on a feature-length documentary aimed at sparking dialogue on
this looming problem facing U.S. prisons.
Edgar Barens, visiting media specialist with UIC's Jane Addams Center
for Social Policy and Research, says "Prison Terminal" breaks through
the walls of one of America's oldest maximum-security prisons to tell
of the final months in the life of a terminally ill prisoner and the
trained hospice volunteers -- they themselves prisoners -- who care for
him.
Shot over a six-month period inside the Iowa state penitentiary, the
film draws attention to the fragility as well as the holistic benefits
of a prison-based, prisoner-staffed, hospice program and provides an
account of how the hospice experience can touch the forsaken lives of
the incarcerated.
"'Prison Terminal' brings to light the deeply redemptive effects
hospice has on the prisoner volunteers as they guide their ailing
friend through a dignified death, surrounded by friends and family,"
Barens said.
"Prison Terminal" is one of several projects currently underway at the
Jane Addams Center for Social Policy and Research, which is directed by
Creasie Finney Hairston, dean of the Jane Addams College of Social
Work. The center's mission is to bring together the resources of
academic institutions, community and advocacy groups to advance
social-welfare policies and programs that meet the needs of urban
communities, poor families, and the incarcerated.
For more information about the film or to view the trailer, go to
http://www.prisonterminal.com
The film, currently in post-production, is scheduled for distribution
by fall. Prior to "Prison Terminal," one of Barens' most significant
films was "A Sentence of Their Own," a documentary on the impact
incarceration has on families.
The California Correctional Medical Facility State Penitentiary for Men in Vacaville California, houses 30 angels behind bars.
These angels are state accredited hospice volunteers serving their fellow inmates in the medical facility hospice with the Pastoral Care Service Program [PCS], co-ordinated and implemented by Chaplain Kieth Knouf, .
This 17 bed hospice, dedicated to the memory of Robert Evans Alexander in the spring of 1993, was the first of what are now 58 prison hospice programs in the USA.
Robert Alexander and his wife Nancy Jaicks Alexander, former staff to the late pioneering thanatologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross M.D., began volunteering their services to inmates with AIDS in 1985.
Recognizing the need for support and the desire of inmates to activate the heart, Jaicks trained the first core of volunteers to serve the dying in 1991..
As the first volunteer for inmates with AIDS in 1983, I returned this month after 15 years, as Jaick’s guest , to teach a class in touch awareness to this amazing group.
The skill of positioning pillows and towels or other soft props as a means of comforting painful and uncomfortable symptomology, was received with full attention.
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What a blessing to speak to a group who clearly understand the need to explore compassion as a path for a peaceful existence. How glorious to see human beings so willing to touch the heart fully, serve so passionately and forgive so deeply.
The tour of the hospice facility touched me in many ways as well, from the way that the cultural spiritual beliefs of the inmates are encouraged and honored to the flower pots lined up outside the hospice where inmates can plant a seed before they die
I experienced true testimony to the hope and spirit that has been created in a place where some might imagine extreme darkness.
I left feeling humbled that I have the opportunity to be present as a witness to such profound healing, and excited that I will return in July with Nancy Jaicks Alexander, July 24th, to offer a full day Everflowing workshop in advanced vigil care, to these angels behind bars.
Blessings and Gratitude
Irene Smith www.everflowing.org
National Hospice Prison Association (NHPA) promotes hospice care for terminally ill prisoners. Their purpose is to assist corrections and hospice professionals in their continuing efforts to develop high quality patient care procedures and management programs. They provide a network for the exchange of information between corrections facilities, community hospices, and other concerned agencies about existing programs, best practices, and new developments in the prison hospice field.
The National Hospice Document Repository (NHDR) contains some documents on Prison Hospice from NHPA that are accessible through the NHDR Document Index. To access them, click here.