How Your Family Can Find Meaning and Closeness During a Difficult Time
Hospice is dedicated to physical, emotional, and spiritual care and comfort. Although many families find meaningful opportunities to connect with their loved one during this time, we are often asked for suggestions and resources.
Our team has previously written about how loved ones in hospice care can engage with complementary therapies, like art, music, massage, and visits from pets; practice mindfulness and meditation; and explore legacy projects.
In addition to these, we also suggest family storytelling. The act of gathering together to share and listen to each other is a powerful practice. When a family is gathered together in the home of a loved one with a life-limiting illness, storytelling becomes a way to feel closer, learn, bridge the gap between generations, laugh, and even grieve together.
What Does Family Storytelling Look Like?
There are many ways to approach family storytelling, but we recommend keeping it simple and making it work for you.
We define family storytelling like this: it’s a chance for loved ones and family members of all ages to share memories, life stories, and meaningful moments with each other. We’ll paint a picture for you, so you can imagine how it might look in your family:
- Families with a loved one in hospice care gather together to share their favorite memories of their loved one as a way to honor them.
- Family members provide their loved one with questions that prompt them to tell stories about their lives while the family listens.
- Family members and their loved one go through old photos, documents, and keepsakes to share and learn more about their family’s history.
These are just examples to get you started. No matter how you choose to approach storytelling during home hospice care, the goal is the same: connection and closeness. That’s what’s most important at this time.
If you don’t yet have a hospice provider, consider Phoenix Home Care & Hospice, a leading home hospice agency near you.
A Usable Guide For Family Storytelling During Hospice Care
When trying out storytelling during home hospice care, it is normal to feel unsure about whether this is a worthwhile exercise or if you’re doing it “right.” If the approach you take is all about connection, you can’t go wrong.
If any of the three approaches we’ve mentioned sounds like it could work for your family, here is a short guide to get started with each.
Sharing Favorite Memories
Choose a moment when family members can get together with your loved one in hospice care to share memories with each other. There may be times of day when your loved one has more energy or isn’t receiving a visit from their hospice agency near you. That may be the perfect opportunity to try this. Include younger and older members of the family, if you wish.
Questions For Your Loved One
- What is your earliest memory?
- What is your earliest memory of [family member]?
- What is your earliest memory of your mother and father, grandmother and grandfather?
- What is your favorite memory of us as a family?
- What is your favorite recent memory?
Questions For Family Members of All Ages
- What is your earliest memory of [loved one]?
- What is your favorite memory of [loved one]?
- What is your most favorite recent memory of spending time with [loved one]?
Life Storytelling For Your Loved One
Provide a series of questions for your loved one to help them share about their life and offer their perspective on the world they’ve experienced. This can help family members learn more about their loved one than they ever knew before.
Questions To Try
- What were you like as a child?
- What was a challenge you had while growing up?
- What was one of your favorite parts of growing up?
- What were your goals when you were younger?
- What was the house like that you grew up in?
- What was different about the world when you were growing up?
- How did we start a certain family tradition?
- How did you fall in love with your spouse?
Family History Storytelling
This version of storytelling for your loved one during home hospice care prompts them and the rest of your family to share stories based on special items like photo albums, special objects, saved newspaper clippings, and more.
- Have your loved one look through these items and share details as they wish.
- Family members can also chime in to share as you go through these materials.
- Items may prompt you to ask questions like the ones listed above. For example, you might ask your loved one to tell a story about how they met their spouse when looking at old wedding pictures.
Whether you try family storytelling or you find it’s not right for you, Phoenix Home Care & Hospice provides physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort tailored to your loved one’s needs. Request Phoenix, a home hospice agency near you.
Home Hospice Care Is For the Whole Family
Hospice care is your loved one’s choice made in collaboration with a physician’s order and qualifying circumstances. Hospice is dedicated to your loved one’s comfort, dignity, and quality of life. However, with services like social work, visits from a chaplain, help from community volunteers, bereavement counseling, and more, hospice wraps its arms around your entire family.
Phoenix understands that every family member has needs during their loved one’s health journey. We help you find peace, meaning, and connection during this time. When you’re not receiving visits from Team Phoenix, family storytelling is another way to bring the family together with their loved one to experience joy, grief, closeness, and even hope. And, fortunately, there’s no wrong way to do it.
Let Phoenix Home Care & Hospice be your guide as a trusted provider for home hospice care near you. Our hospice agency offices are located in Missouri and Kansas, and we’re ready to serve.
