Table of Contents - Living With Grief: Who We Are, How We Grieve (1998)
Foreword
Jack D. Gordon
Acknowledgements
- Asian Ways of Grief
Dennis Klass and Robert E. Goss - Jewish Perspectives Concerning Death and Dying
Earl A. Grollman - Christians in Grief
Stephen D. McConnell - Grief: A Muslim Perspective
Shukria Alimi Raad - Grief in the American Culture
Dana G. Cable - Looking Through Different Eyes: Beyond Cultural Diversity
Sherry E. Showalter - Sociocultural Considerations for Working with Blacks Experiencing Loss and Grief
Ronald Keith Barrett - Developing Cultural Competency
Lynne Ann DeSpelder - Dying and Grieving in the Inner City
Patricia A. Murphy and David M. Price - Gender Differences in Bereavement Expression Across the Life Span
Catherine M. Sanders - Revisiting Masculine Grief
Terry L. Martin and Kenneth J. Doka - Developmental Perspectives on Grief and Mourning
Charles A. Corr - Helping Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
Claire Lavin - The World of the Deaf Community
Frank R. Zieziula - Sexual Orientation and Grief
Ron E. Wilder - Cultural Aspects of Peer Support: An Examination of One Program's Experience
Bonnie Carroll - Dimensions of Diversity in the Reconstruction of Meaning
Robert A. Neimeyer and Nancy J. Keesee - Deciding What Is Right When We Are So Different
David M. Price - Multicultural Grief Counseling
Richard R. Ellis - Healing Rituals: Powerful and Empowering
Alice Parsons Zulli - The Wounded Healer: A Transcultural Perspective
Douglas C. Smith - Conclusion
Joyce D. Davidson
Resource Organizations
References
Foreword
Jack D. Gordon, President
Hospice Foundation of America
I often hear the comment that hospice care is essentially a mainstream, middle-class movement. I agree that more attention must be given to broadening the use of hospice among all segments of society. Making a sincere effort to do this, however, requires an examination of the factors which have created these perceived barriers to hospice care. Are we talking about differences in age, gender, ethnic background, religious beliefs, social or economic class, educational background, or any others that come to mind? And how do the overwhelming concerns that accompany dying and bereavement add to these issues?
We do know that any of these differences or combinations thereof undoubtedly affect both the use of hospice and the people working in hospice programs. That's why we chose to examine these topics in our 1998 National Bereavement Teleconference and collect these essays in this book. Although some of these questions have been written about before, we know of no place where all of these concerns about the way that "who we are" affects our attitudes toward dying and death are examined, by so many disparate voices, in one volume.
I've always thought that hospice people are the last significant group of idealists in the healthcare system; their commitment to helping anyone in need of their services is certainly a hallmark of the movement. So I feel certain that the hospice family, and indeed all whose lives are touched by grief either professionally or personally, will gain new insights from this book. And I sincerely hope that the lessons learned from this book will lead to the provision of hospice care to an ever-widening number of people, as well as exercise a humane influence on the entire healthcare system (which certainly needs it).
After all, the idea behind this book embodies the hospice philosophy of care. Hospice care takes all facets of the person into account - the physical, the emotional, the spiritual. Hospice care recognizes the importance of family and friends - those whose lives are deeply interconnected with the dying person - as the essential unit of care. And the care is administered by a group of caring professionals and volunteers, all of whom bring their own individual strengths to provide truly holistic support at the end of life. By examining and embracing the differences that define us all, I feel certain that we can make progress in broadening the use of hospice care, expanding the role of hospice in the healthcare system, and learning something about ourselves in the process.
[Note: Mr. Gordon served as Chairman and CEO of HFA until his death in 2005.]
