Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes [Paperback]

Frances Shani Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

All of us are entitled to the rewards of a peaceful, pain-free death. This book honors that with true stories about hospice patients and inspiring insights from the author. Becoming Dead Right guides us through the general and "how to" information maze that prepares us for dealing with death. Improving and expanding hospice services will require systemic changes in healthcare institutions, outreach to diverse populations, and funding. With the inclusion of hospice programs in nursing homes, dying with dignity becomes even more important. Millions of aging baby boomers heighten the urgency for better hospice care and conditions in nursing homes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A school principal and hospice volunteer, Frances Shani Parker relates her experiences with dying people in nursing homes. The second part of her book is about what we as individuals and as a society must do to improve things for those who are dying. I particularly enjoyed the guided tour, conducted from a wheelchair, of Baby Boomer Haven. -- Dr. Roger Woodruff, Director of Palliative Care, International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia

The writing is eloquent and powerful, and the stories are instructive and lasting. After finishing this book, I wanted to do more for other individuals who are dying, for as Ms. Parker so clearly imparts, the dying teach us so much about living well.-- Dr. Peter A. Lichtenberg, Director, Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

This book is filled with poetry, stories, wisdom and common sense that can help boomers, students, caregivers and policy makers understand their own aging and realize that our society can - and should - make important changes that can ensure safe, dignified, individualized care at the end of our lives. Alice Hedt, Executive Director, National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform

From the Author

The writing of this book rose from a restless literary hunger that confronted me with the urgency for promoting positive conversations about end-of-life healthcare, death, and nursing homes. An inner-city Detroit hospice volunteer for nine years, I ventured weekly into nursing home worlds where many patients lived final phases of their lives. Insights gained through my experiences became the food source for this book. Including both general and racial-ethnic minority perspectives, I wrote these stories, poems, and commentaries to feed inspiration and information to readers about hospice, nursing homes, caregiving, dementia, death, and bereavement. 

Death is a necessary portion of life. As America's buffet of populations continues to increase in age and diversity, important end-of-life concerns crave our attention. This book offers solutions for savoring, so we can all be nourished by gourmet satisfactions of dignified death journeys.

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Loving Healing Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932690352
• ISBN-13: 978-1932690354
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,130,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frances Shani Parker is an award-winning writer, consultant, and former school principal. A hospice volunteer for many years in Detroit nursing homes, Parker is author of Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes. With stories, poems, and general information, she presents a captivating account of her experiences and insights on hospice, nursing homes, caregiving, dementia, death, and bereavement. A groundbreaking book with national endorsements, Becoming Dead Right includes universal perspectives, particularly the often-missing voices of people of color. An ongoing advocate for seniors, eldercare, and nursing home reform, Parker works with several senior-centered organizations. She serves on the Board of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She writes a blog about hospice, nursing homes, eldercare, and seniors in general. Her blog is called Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog.

As an educator, Parker has consulted in school districts nationally on service-learning, a teaching and learning approach that connects classroom learning with meeting community needs. Among many service-learning projects, she has created successful intergenerational partnerships between schools and nursing homes. She includes a chapter on these partnerships in Becoming Dead Right.

Parker has been honored with the Service-Learning Trailblazer Award presented by the National Service-Learning Partnership. Other honors include the Outstanding Education Administrator Award presented by the Metropolitan Detroit Alliance of Black School Educators, and the Educator of the Year Award presented by the Wayne State University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, an international, professional fraternity for educators. Her writing has received awards from Writer's Digest, the Poetry Society of Michigan, the Detroit Writer's Guild, Broadside Press, and the New Orleans Public Library. Parker's website is www.FrancesShaniParker.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming Dead Right, December 31, 2007

By 

Roscoe Mcknight Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes (Paperback)

As much as we tend to "tip-toe" around end-of-life matters with family and friends, Parker however takes the reader on a warm and touching journey with "loud and clear" steps about what she calls, "The Other Side of Through." Throughout the book, you can't help but reflect on your life situation wherever you may be on life's timeline. It is a must-read for those thousands of "baby boomers" like me because 1. We are entering that phase of our life where, quite frankly, we begin to seriously think about our own mortality and all that that means, and 2. Many of us have had to be, or will face the very likely possibility of being, a care-giver to a loved one. "Being Dead Right" answers so many questions on the issues of hospice care almost from A-Z and is told in a very readable, informative and humane way. In her book, Parker indeed lets full sun shine on a topic long lain hid. Excellent job.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unless you're planning not to die, plan to read this book., October 13, 2007

By 

Curtis Jennings (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes (Paperback)

This book was enlightning and a pleasure to read. I found it difficult to put down. Each of many patient related stories told was captivating and conveyed significant and often imperative messages. Comprehensive, insightful, empathetic, amusing, comforting and instructive are all applicable adjectives. Becoming Dead Right is a gift of sagacity to us all.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and Enlightening!!, October 2, 2007

By 

Jeannine Lesch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes (Paperback)

I really enjoyed the book, "Becoming Dead Right." The book was powerfully written and allowed the reader to feel the joys, frustrations, excitement and pain of the men and women in Hospice Care. My favorite part was the poems that were peppered in throughout the book that gave the book an extra special touch. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a book that puts a story and face with the people in Hospice Care.