Death and Life

Start Preparing For Death by Building and Nurturing Friendships

Start Preparing For Death by Building and Nurturing Friendships

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW I was visiting a hospice patient who lived alone and had very few people in her life. She was relatively young to be on hospice...
Caring For Transgender Patients on Hospice

Caring For Transgender Patients on Hospice

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW Gender-affirming end-of-life care is a basic human right. It is the responsibility of each end-of-life provider to educate ours...
What to Consider When Choosing a Health Care Decision Maker

What to Consider When Choosing a Health Care Decision Maker

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW People often choose their healthcare surrogate because of the relationship alone (spouse, child, etc).Before making your decisi...
To Support Someone in Grief You Need to be Comfortable With Death

To Support Someone in Grief You Need to be Comfortable With Death

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW There are many practical ways to support a friend that is grieving; grocery shopping, dropping off a meal, watching their child...
How To Support Someone Whose Family Member is on Hospice

How To Support Someone Whose Family Member is on Hospice

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW  “Every morning, I go into my mom’s room and I can feel my heart racing. She sleeps with her mouth open, and many mornings ...
Why Didn't the Doctor Tell Us About Hospice Sooner?

Why Didn't the Doctor Tell Us About Hospice Sooner?

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW Not long ago, I had a conversation with the daughter of a hospice patient who was upset.She asked, “Why didn’t my mom’...
Grieving Your Family Member With Dementia While They Are Still Alive

Grieving Your Family Member With Dementia While They Are Still Alive

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW

grieving while a person is still living, over the course of the disease progression. There is so much grief in dementia. We grieve the losses. We grieve the future. We grieve the person they were and how they used to make us feel. 

Tips For Caring For an Engineer At End-Of-Life

Tips For Caring For an Engineer At End-Of-Life

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW  We live in a part of Los Angeles where the top Aerospace companies are located.This means that the hospice provider that I wor...
Visiting Memories: Thoughts From a Woman With Dementia

Visiting Memories: Thoughts From a Woman With Dementia

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
By Lisa Pahl, LCSW Over the years, I have worked with countless individuals who live with a Dementia diagnosis. Within hospice, some people’s term...
Who Cares What Happens After I Die, I will Be Dead

Who Cares What Happens After I Die, I will Be Dead

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
When talking about advance care planning, disposition options, and getting your affairs in order, people will tell me, “I don’t care what happens when I die, I will be dead.”

My answer always is, “the people left behind. That’s who cares.”
My Husband Was Just Admitted to Hospice and My Phone Won’t Stop Ringing

My Husband Was Just Admitted to Hospice and My Phone Won’t Stop Ringing

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW

Recently, the spouse of a new hospice patient shared with me that she felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the calls she was receiving from the hospice team. While we can all probably agree that too much support is better than too little, it was causing extra stress for this wife, who didn't understand why we were all calling. Hospice staff can take steps to help reduce the burden of visits upon admission. 

Leaving Less Unsaid by Michelle Gomes, Co-Founder & CEO, Evaheld

Leaving Less Unsaid by Michelle Gomes, Co-Founder & CEO, Evaheld

by Lisa Pahl, LCSW
While we all innately know that connection is not severed with death, we grieve death as an ending, a grand finale to this thing we call life. As a society we have built up death so much, that sometimes it’s difficult to conceive that one can in some small way continue to create meaningful moments of connection in the future- not simply through shared stories amongst loved ones- but by playing a central role in how their story and their life is memorialized and experienced into the future.