Medical Terminology
Every health condition comes with its own language, medical terminology and decision options. End of Life is no different. While CPR and DNR may be familiar to many, that doesn’t mean they are understood as intended.
New ‘terms’ such as Allow Natural Death or AND and Voluntary Stopping Eating and Drinking or VSED have been created to add to options to consider. Understanding the words and terms used is one thing. Being able to act on them is another.
Bringing Creativity into Clinical Practice with Older Adults.
It was a day of music, arts and drama, of passion and compassion, entitled, Bringing Creativity into Clinical Practice with older adults. Bringing creativity into a Clinic Day brought relief and hope to many working with Dementia and Alzheimer's patients. The...
Room 217: Care Through Music
Guest blog by Bev Foster A lot of life happens in rooms and so does a lot of death. One room I will always remember is Room 217, where my mom, five siblings, and I sang around dad’s bedside as he was dying in a hospital northeast of Toronto. Whether it was the...
Medical jargon: even single-syllable words can confound
Who’d’ve thought that simple, one and two-syllable words – which is one of the the criteria for Grade 6 reading level – could cause so much confusion, upset and medication errors. Out of context, even every-day words can confound. Consider these (true) examples: In a...
Grief and Grieving: death, dying and beyond
Grief and grieving: in life and death For each of us, our Book of Life has many chapters on grief and grieving, covering a broad spectrum: I can still conjure the pang of loss when my youngest went to Kindergarten; the sense of betrayal caused by the end of a...
