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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The Changing Face of Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
Contributing Author - Greg Schneider
HCF Creator & HVA President
Volunteers have a long history of supporting the development and delivery of hospice and palliative care in most countries throughout the world. As hospice and palliative care services anticipate significant increasing and changing demands, it is recognized that volunteers have a vital role to play in supporting the future delivery of services. However, as society changes so too does volunteering.
This multi-author text explores the complex phenomenon of hospice and palliative care volunteering from an international perspective and considers the influence on volunteering of different cultures and constructs. The book also explores the likely impact of changes in hospice and palliative care on volunteers and considers how and why volunteering itself is changing and the subsequent implications for managers, organizations, and policy makers.
This book does not attempt to offer solutions to the many challenges ahead, but rather poses questions that may help to reflect on new possibilities and opportunities.
Review
"The book is well laid out and written in an easy to use manner. It begins with setting the scene of volunteering and the modern context of hospice and palliative care. The book is well referenced and covers a range of topics making for a balanced and thought provoking read." -- Nursing Times
"If you run a palliative care volunteer service, or a palliative care service with a volunteer program, you need to read this book. Not only will it give you an in-depth view of where things are at, but also how things are changing in countries from around the world." --
Roger Woodruff, IAHPC Newsletter
Editors
Ros Scott, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Dundee, UK and Co-chair, EAPC Task Force on Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care. She is a researcher and voluntary sector consultant with a background in organisational development, research and the development of volunteering and of palliative care organisations.
Steven Howlett, Deputy Director at Roehampton Business School, London, UK where he teaches undergraduate and post graduate courses in management and ethics. Previously he was Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Volunteering research where he completed many studies on volunteering.
Comments
Volunteers Weave a Fabric of Faith
She came very quietly into our lives - the hospice volunteer. It seemed as though someone had chosen a friend for us - out of a catalog - matching her sweet and sensitive spirit to our deep despair and emotional fatigue.
She sat quietly in the living room on the days when I was unable to speak. She lingered with me over a cup of tea when all I needed was her silent presence. And when my needs grew - especially my need for words of faith and trust - she drew a small book from her purse and read a passage that touched my heart. She didn't lecture or preach - simply shared a few comforting words that seemed to fill every ounce of air that had previously hung so heavily over the room.
Oh, I loved that hospice volunteer!
On the morning my husband died, all of a sudden she was in the living room, sitting quietly and sedately in a chair near the window. Who had called her? Not me ... but there she was. Her sacred presence, her respectful demeanor, the way she remained outside the circle of family and yet, an integral part - oh, I am so grateful. I knew she was there, and yet, the blessing of her presence was not fussy or loud or directing or controlling.
She was part of the fabric of our faith. She had seen me cry, watched me move thru doubt and despair. When I didn't think I could go on, her hand on my shoulder gave me strength. When I was sinking physically and emotionally, she lifted me up. Her heart reached out to me with understanding and compassion - a stranger who had become a friend - a single thread of hospice which had become part of the fabric of my days.
Hospice and Home Care have become like another child to me since the experiences of those care giving days 12 years ago - a child to whom I am totally dedicated - a child I am committed to nurturing and inspiring - a child whom I love - and will love - forever.
Thank you to each and every hospice volunteer. You have woven the fabric of my life. Every stitch in the fabric of my faith has been bound tightly so that I might serve others. Every thread you wove, with vibrant colors of blue and red and gold, has made me who I am today - a hospice and home care advocate - and a woman who loves you ... always.