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At a Death Café, people – often strangers – gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to sha At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and […]
Part of our FREE series of readings, workshops, and discussions to help explore what it means to live and die well. Hank Dunn, Hard Choices for Loving People: CPR, Feeding Tubes, Palliative Care, Comfort Measures, and the Patient with a Serious Illness Many people say, “I want to die peacefully in my sleep at home,” […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
Barbara Karnes, RN, has been providing clear, easy to understand, and wonderfully insightful information about the dying process, end-of-life care, and how to navigate the needs of the dying for more than 30 years. Now she is talking with people and organizations around the country about providing this same kind of care in the age […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
Part of our FREE series of readings, workshops, and discussions to help explore what it means to live and die well. Charles M. Fontenot, In Search Of My Soul: just looking for me. A father's collection of poems, coming full circle from grieving loss to truly celebrating life. The honesty and vulnerability of Chuck's writing […]
Founder of Columbia University’s Center for Complicated Grief, Dr. Katherine Shear will lead this workshop about complicated grief for community members and professionals. A natural response to loss, grief is complex, varying, and multifaceted. While everyone grieves in their own way, for most people, grief diminishes as they as find ways to accept the death […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
Part of our FREE series of films about how we live and die. Departures Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures follows a young man who returns to his hometown after a failed career as a cellist and stumbles across work as a traditional Japanese ritual mortician. He is subjected to prejudice from […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
"Tenderly, I now touch all things, knowing one day we will part" - St. John of the Cross How do you meet endings in life? Do you go unconscious around them? Maybe endings are very emotional for you? Do you wait for others to acknowledge the end, or do you jump the gun? Most of […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
To commemorate the first day of winter, and the return of the light, Mission Hospice invites you to join us for some music to warm the heart. We are grateful to offer music from our Mission Hospice community, and our dear friends at The Peninsula Threshold Choir. Please note that this will not be a […]
At a Death Café, people – often strangers – gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment…with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
Our first Community Conversation of 2021 will take us back to the beginnings of the hospice movement, and the work done by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to change the way people die in the US. Ken Ross, son of Dr. Kübler-Ross, will present on his mother’s work and legacy. Growing up, he accompanied his mother on […]
Many health care professionals and laypeople equate hope at the end of life with hope for a cure, and some physicians don’t discuss end-of-life care for fear patients will lose hope. But hospice and palliative care providers can help guide patients and their families to redefine what hope means at the end of life. Psychology […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
All of us, at some time, experience heartbreaking loss. Alone, shocked, and confused, we are no longer tethered to the life we had, and do not yet recognize a new landscape for our days. Opening to Grief: Finding Your Way From Loss to Peace is a guide to this tender time. With the demeanor and […]
In his many years as a chaplain in a nursing home, a hospital, and with hospice, Hank has learned valuable lessons about living while navigating a serious illness. As difficult as it can be, what seems most important is to live each day as fully as possible. He has seen people live a life of […]
Take Charge! Advance Care Planning 2-part workshop What matters most to you? If you were facing serious illness, what kind of care would you want? If you couldn’t speak for yourself, who would? Taking charge of your future care can bring peace of mind -- to you and your loved ones -- and is especially […]
In our progression through grief and toward the end of life, dreams, visions, and the symbolic therein reveal what needs to be explored, considered, tended to, and healed. Understanding and identifying symbolic language can help guide us through the end-of-life process. As human beings who go experience loss, let us reclaim our capacity to abide […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
The power of empathy and compassion is revolutionizing our approach to person-centered counseling and caregiving. Drawing from the field of positive psychology, The Helper's Journey explores the brighter side of human nature and helping. Real-world caregiver experience in hospice and palliative care, oncology, and counseling bring to light fresh perspectives. Dale G. Larson (BA, University […]
BJ Miller, MD, is co-founder of Mettle Health, a company that provides personalized, holistic consultations for any patient or caregiver who needs help navigating the practical, emotional and existential issues that come with serious illness and disability. In today's talk, he will explain how Mettle Health supports patients and why he chose this path. BJ […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
This workshop will teach us how to recognize a person’s progression into the final stages of dementia and provide the best care using Teepa Snow’s hands-on, disease-level appropriate techniques. In this two-hour training program, Teepa explains how to connect with someone living with late stage dementia, how to recognize and manage pain, and how to […]
We are excited to welcome back Barbara Karnes, RN, who will be reading to us from an assortment of her books geared to support those navigating end-of-life issues, care, experiences. Barbara has the unique ability to take difficult and complex information, and make it readily available for any audience. Barbara Karnes is an award-winning hospice […]
What is the difference between hospice and palliative care? What is the right choice for a situation? When and how can you get a Palliative care consultation? Our expert speakers will address these and other questions during this seminar co-sponsored by Seniors at Home. Gwen Harris, MSW, Director of the Palliative Care program at Seniors […]
Barbara Karnes' work over the last 30 years as a hospice nurse and end-of-life educator has made the world a better place. Her "little blue book" is a staple for any hospice program. Her ability to translate complicated information into simple and easy to understand language has been essential to those receiving hospice care. Gabby […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
In Walking Each Other Home, Mirabai Bush and Ram Dass explore the ways in which we can be present with dying, and help ourselves and others leave this world consciously. Through masterful storytelling and practical guidance, these two teachers offer an intimate, thoughtful, and uplifting exploration of the greatest of human mysteries — and show […]
Death Is But a Dream validates the meaningful dreams and visions that bring comfort as death nears, and it is an important contribution to our understanding of medicine's and humanity's greatest mystery. Dr. Christopher Kerr’s work as the CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Hospice of Buffalo has allowed him a close-up view of this […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
Renshin Bunce is a Zen Buddhist priest who works as a chaplain at Mission Hospice. Through a series of stories about people she has met, we see that every death is different and that there are no universal rules or easy answers in hospice care. These stories show what's possible, allowing the reader to learn […]
The goal of this class is to identify what a caregiver is, the importance of being identified as a caregiver, and to provide the participant with an understanding of the impact they potentially have on the care of their loved ones and themselves. Christina Irving, LSCW, is the Director of Client Services at Family Caregiver […]
This study group, based on Frank Ostaseski’s The Five Invitations will be a facilitated exploration of what death can teach us about living fully. Each month we will discuss one of the Invitations, with the expectation that participants will have read that chapter before joining us. The sixth month will be a closing discussion with […]
The Last Things We Talk About gives readers and their loved ones the opportunity as death approaches to affirm, celebrate, and remember the people and experiences they cherish in life. Libby Boatwright guides families step-by-step through the process of making aging and death-related decisions. This includes defining personal values and wishes, as well as planning […]
Connie Borden has worked professionally as a Nurse Practitioner in hospice and palliative care for 26 years. She is also a 4th Dan Shintaido Instructor with 35 years of study and teaching. She has presented body movement techniques at CHAPCA (CA Hospice & Palliative Care Association) and NHPCO (National Hospice & Palliative Care Org), as […]
Hospice has been part of the medical system in the US since the mid 1970s, yet there is still so much misinformation and misunderstanding about hospice and its role in providing the best possible care at end of life. Join us for this free online class to debunk the myths about hospice and have your […]
*The Sept. 7 Death Cafe is canceled. Please join us for the next Death Cafe on Sept. 14.* At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe […]
What matters most to you? If you were facing serious illness, what kind of care would you want? If you couldn’t speak for yourself, who would? Taking charge of your future care can bring peace of mind – to you and your loved ones. Bring a friend or family member to this virtual workshop on […]
This book invites you into the heart of a hospice nurse and end-of-life doula. For every patient visit, she brings with her a collection of tools that she has acquired over the years, hoping to ensure that someone who is dying finds peace and comfort. What she soon realized, was that when she left at […]
At a Death Café, people - often strangers - gather to drink tea, enjoy snacks, and discuss death. Death Café offers everyone a chance to share ideas, opinions, and questions about death in a supportive and safe environment...with tea and snacks. There is no agenda. This is a discussion group, not a grief support or […]
For many, 2020-2021 will be remembered as one of the most uncertain times in our lives. For family and professional caregivers, our capacity to navigate and sustain us through uncertainty was pushed to our limits. Jon Seskevich RN, BSN, BA, CHTP is a certified stress management instructor and healing touch practitioner. Since 1987, this pioneer […]
Maryanne O’Hara is the author, most recently, of LITTLE MATCHES, A MEMOIR OF GRIEF AND LIGHT, published by HarperCollins in April. LITTLE MATCHES is inspired by a blog that Maryanne O’Hara kept while her daughter Caitlin was waiting for a lung transplant. Maryanne and Caitlin’s story has been featured in The New York Times, TIME […]
Join Wendy in this conversation about extreme self-care through the lens of self-compassion and embodiment work (self myofascial release). Wendy will offer tools and ideas that people can use immediately. Wendy has traveled around the country gaining expert level certification from John Barnes, the leading authority in myofascial release. The healing effects of myofascial release […]
The Final Curtain is a death, dying, and grief themed open-mic night. In supportive company we’ll explore how creative expression uplifts those of us who live with experiences of death and dying. Together we’ll embrace losses and mortality, grieve, and – ultimately – celebrate life and hope. Each act will be given up to five […]
This one-hour filmed presentation of our popular workshop – “Take Charge! Advance Care Planning Tips” – is presented by Mary Matthiesen of Mission Hospice, Christina Irving of Family Caregiver Alliance, and Gwen Harris of Seniors At Home. The film will be followed by a one-hour panel discussion and Q&A on advanced care planning. Advance care […]
Grab your popcorn and beverage of choice and join us for a screening of the documentary Lives Well Lived! This award-winning film celebrates the incredible wit, wisdom, and life experiences of older adults aged 75 to 100. Through their intimate memories and inspiring personal histories encompassing over 3,000 years of experience, 40 people share their […]
Hospice has been part of the medical system in the US since the mid 1970s, yet there is still so much misinformation and misunderstanding about hospice and its role in providing the best possible care at end of life. Join us for this free online class to debunk the myths about hospice and have your […]
In memory of Dane, we'll ride a scenic 35-mile route along Monterey's 17-Mile Drive to raise awareness of and funds for brain cancer research and hospice care. Ride map on Strava: https://tinyurl.com/RideforDane The ride is self-supported. 9am start (and snacks) California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery in front of the administration building 2900 Parker Flats Cut […]
Caregiving can be physically and emotionally demanding and exhausting. Additionally, COVID-19 has resulted in many caregivers caring for someone at home, without their pre-pandemic support networks. Whether you are taking care of a loved one or in a caregiving profession, to be able to care for others you must first care for yourself. When your […]
Grab your popcorn and beverage of choice and join us for a screening of the documentary PROGNOSIS – notes on living! Stick around after the screening for a film discussion. In perhaps her bravest act as a filmmaker, Oscar-winning San Francisco documentarian, LGBTQ+ activist, and Frameline Award recipient Debra Chasnoff (It’s Elementary) responded to her […]
We’re going live with a tribute to the King of Cool himself! Ticket sales are now closed, but you may add yourself to the waitlist by calling Cathy McDermott at 650.532.2562.
Join author Dana Lacy Amarisa as she starts us off with her kind, insightful, and straightforward presentation on the practical yet heart-centered steps to saying helpful condolences to a friend, business associate, or family member who might be sad about anything. This talk is based on Amarisa’s book, Condolences Pocket Guide: What to Say and […]
Join author Dana Lacy Amarisa (Condolences Pocket Guide) as she takes us on a compassionate tour of our culture’s most commonly said unhelpful condolences—using them as a helpful roadmap to offering meaningful consolation to a sad friend. “I’ve said almost every condolence that I urge people to never, ever say to a grieving friend. So […]
At a Death Café, anyone can participate! We gather in a virtual environment, to openly and tenderly talk about death and dying. The conversation is facilitated and is a completely open and safe space to share your experiences, feelings, thoughts, and ideas on any topic related to death and dying. There is no set agenda. […]
So much grief goes unseen and unhealed because of life events that are not understood by us as losses. Then the griever feels misunderstood, creating a second loss for them—the loss of the support network they desperately need in order to heal. One of the many types of listening—deep listening—goes to the root of supporting […]
What matters most to you? If you were facing serious illness, what kind of care would you want? If you couldn’t speak for yourself, who would? Planning for your future care can bring peace of mind – to you and your loved ones. Advance care planning is a process that helps you decide and document […]
Join this interactive & informal community, hosted by Reimagine, to spark compassion, curiosity, & connection with special guest: Gabrielle Jimenez, LVN, CHPLN. Gather for inspired conversation & support around end of life. Death over Drafts Happy Hour is an opportunity for those who serve in the end-of-life space and the curious to gather. "What would […]
Experiences at the end of life testify to our greatest needs: to love and be loved, to be nurtured and feel connected, to be remembered, and forgiven. Christopher Kerr is a hospice doctor. All of his patients die. Yet he has tended to thousands of patients who, in the face of death, speak of love, […]
What matters most to you? If you were facing serious illness, what kind of care would you want? If you couldn’t speak for yourself, who would? Planning for your future care can bring peace of mind – to you and your loved ones. Advance care planning is a process that helps you decide and document […]
Come play the card game that lets you explore the “taboo” topic we’re often afraid to discuss. The Death Deck’s cards are filled with a sense of humor to ease the tension surrounding the subject matter and are the perfect ice-breaker to get important conversations started. Come solo -- or bring a friend or family […]
Healing Touch is a gentle, complementary energy-based approach to health and healing. Training in this evidence-based practice can be useful for all professional and family caregivers. This two-day Level 2 training (August 20-21) is one of our ongoing offerings. Tuition is $497 sliding scale; 16 CEUs available. To register or for more information, contact […]
At a Death Café, anyone can participate! We gather in a virtual environment, to openly and tenderly talk about death and dying. The conversation is facilitated and is a completely open and safe space to share your experiences, feelings, thoughts, and ideas on any topic related to death and dying. There is no set agenda. […]
Moving away from the idea that grief is a problem that needs to be “fixed,” Speaking Grief validates the experience of grievers and guides those wishing to support them. There is no “right” way to grieve. By sharing diverse representations of bereavement, Speaking Grief illustrates that grief is a universal, yet individual experience. Stick around […]
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