The Process of Living and Dying

Yesterday Susan Levin talked learning from her hairstylist. Today she gives some tips about how to help an ill parent through the process of dying:

• Be clear about your parent’s death wishes.

• Give them information (enter key words and learn that the web, in general, and the Hospice of Santa Barbara (http://www.hospiceofsantabarbara.org/) and Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care (http://www.vnhcsb.org/) sites, in particular, are packed with useful information).

• Let them make their own life decisions provided they have the mental faculties to do so.

• Get all affairs including finances in order.

• Discuss any unfinished business and unresolved feelings.

• Make them comfortable (take advantage of various comfort aids).

• Provide privacy (curtains can be hung in crowded quarters).

For some Her Mentor Center suggestions about how to help your aging parents create a legacy, click on the title above to take you to our article entitled, How the Sandwich Generation Can Help Their Parents Create a Legacy of Meaning.

Tomorrow Susan will give you some tips on how to take better care of yourself in the process.