This page was created to support our 2025 Lamplighters entry. The actual home of the HopeHealth blog is hopehealthco.org/hopehealthblog.
WE’RE BY YOUR SIDE
Through the HopeHealth blog, we aim to tackle some of life’s most sensitive subjects with the same skill and heart that our team members bring to patients and families every day.
In the process, we hope to make it easier for our communities to connect with the hospice and palliative care they need.
What sets HopeHealth’s blog apart
Many of our readers find us during the toughest times of their lives, when they’re looking for answers and support during a serious illness.
Others are fellow healthcare workers, who look to HopeHealth’s experts for information on topics that aren’t widely taught elsewhere.
So while we always keep an eye on the blog’s analytics, our top priority is the quality of our content.
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HopeHealth’s experts are regional and national leaders in the fields of hospice and palliative care.
We tap into their specialized knowledge to create in-depth resources on topics that are hard to find elsewhere.
For example:
Lesser-known services like palliative care
Research-based tips from dementia educators
Supporting kids at different ages and developmental levels through illness and grief
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Fear of the unknown is a huge barrier to care. By sharing personal, real-life examples from HopeHealth’s own patients and families, we can help readers wrap their heads around how hospice and palliative care services might help them too.
At the same time, we know these stories are about so much more than HopeHealth: They are about the courage, compassion and resilience of our patients and families.
We regularly share feature-length testimonials that truly honor these patients and families, while also serving an educational purpose for readers.
For example:
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We pride ourselves on the quality of our writing.
Our blog profile of hospice chaplain Denis Lynch was the 2023 Lamplighters winner of the Owen McNamara Excellence in Writing award.
In 2024, we earned Lamplighter’s Excellence in Writing awards for the following blog stories:
Silver award: Saying Yes to Pediatric Hospice Changed Our Lives: Rogan’s Story
Excellence award: Make the Most of Every Moment: Neil’s Story
Snapshots
from 2024
Hospice
Hospice support can be crucial at the end of life, but many people avoid or put off seeking care. Through the Hopehealth blog, we show what these services can mean to patients and families.
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This heartwarming story — about a hospice patient in his 70s and a very special volunteer — helps readers grasp one of our core messages: Hospice isn’t about death. It’s about life.
Results:
Website: 1,244 views + 3,706 interactions
Social media: 274 likes + 32 comments + 27 shares
Reader comments:
“Now that’s a ‘show me something good’ story”
“Hope Health were angels to my dad at his end, and then to us during the difficult journey of life without my dad…. I don’t think they will ever know how much they helped me!”
“I’d love to help patients get their own perfect day!!!”
“Beautiful story and moment. Ty for sharing. Hospice has some amazing people”
See the incredible response on Facebook.
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Excerpt
By the time Jack was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and started hospice care, he assumed his golfing days were over.
Then HopeHealth hospice volunteer Claude Tetreault entered the picture.
One warm fall day, out with Jack on their usual errands, Claude took a detour. He drove them right up to the entrance of Rhode Island Country Club, a local course Jack had admired since he was a kid.
“What’s going on here?” Jack asked.
“You told me you’ve never played this golf course before,” Claude replied. “This is your day.”
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One of life’s best surprises is discovering what a difference we can each make in the world. Just ask HopeHealth volunteer Phil Cotsalas.
His profile was a fan favorite for the blog, inspiring an outpouring of thanks for Phil and other hospice volunteers like him.
Results:
Website: 1,434 views + 4,307 interactions
Facebook: 212 likes + 28 comments + 13 shares
Reader comments:
“Hospice was a remarkable gift, a great comfort to my husband and me, and those who volunteer are truly the angels in the lives they touch”
“Just lost my best friend's mom of 60 plus years a week ago this past Sunday. She was made comfortable in her last week in her daughter's home. Hospice are Heroes.”
“I so admire these folks that help others during their last days. My mom was a nursing home patient, Hospice came to her. They were a blessing to her and our entire family.”
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Excerpt:
“I’d been through a pretty lengthy, organized training to become a volunteer, and really enjoyed it. But then I started doubting myself.
I thought, this person is dying, what can I really do to help? If I were ready to pass, what kind of person would I want next to me? Would I really want some guy like me?
Then I thought, I’m just gonna be myself, and we’ll make the best of it.”
Palliative care
Palliative care was only just recognized as a medical specialty in 1990, which means the public and even many healthcare workers still don’t know what it offers. Our blogs fill in the gaps.
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All too many people avoid or put off starting palliative care because they think it’s the same thing as hospice (it’s not) or they don’t understand all the ways it can help. This patient story addresses all of it with a touching testimonial, courtesy of the one and only Reno.
Results:
Website: 900 views + 2,656 interactions
Facebook: 105 likes + 7 shares
Reader comment: “The value of palliative care is so comforting and beneficial to the loved one in need as well as the whole family.”
See the response on Facebook.
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Excerpt:
Before considering palliative care, Reno had become a master of toughing it out. For years, he’d been living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a serious lung disease that can flare up easily, bringing on symptoms like breathlessness and pain.
“I should’ve bought stock in Tylenol, I was taking so much of it. But it just wasn’t helping,” Reno says.
He refers to those years as “living a life of five”: On a scale of one to 10, his pain was consistently a five. It was a struggle. But he didn’t think he had any other options.
“I just learned to deal with it and try to be happy with it,” Reno says. “I told myself: Other people have it worse.”
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To access palliative care, patients and families need to know where — and even how — to ask for it. So with the help of our HopeHealth experts, we created this guide.
Results:
Website: 662 views + 1,926 interactions
Facebook: 29 likes + 16 shares
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Excerpt:
These days, more and more hospitals have palliative care experts on their team. When you or a loved one is hospitalized with a serious illness, you may be able to add them to yours.
How to ask for it:
“Does this hospital offer palliative care?”
If yes: “Can I have a consult with someone on the palliative care team?
If no: “Can you help me connect with palliative care in the community?”
Dementia support
It’s estimated that one in three seniors dies with some form of dementia. HopeHealth’s blog spotlights little-known resources like respite care, plus eye-opening education for families.
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So many dementia caregivers are completely exhausted and overwhelmed, but also reluctant to bring in outside help — because they don’t think they can afford it, or they worry about how their loved one will react. This patient story highlights a free respite program, and one couple who want to share their experience with others.
Results:
Website: 1,033 views + 3,183 interactions
Facebook: 53 likes + 10 comments + 16 shares
Reader comment: “I love this couple!”
See the response on Facebook.
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Excerpt:
It took Gerry years to get up the nerve to ask out Monica. When they finally went on a date, he admitted he was scared of failing at another relationship.
This did not fluster Monica. By then, she’d had a few ups and downs of her own. She’d learned this: “In life, you cannot do it alone,” she told Gerry. He listened.
That was the ‘90s. Around 2020, after decades of marriage, Monica became more than Gerry’s wife: She became his full-time caregiver. His Alzheimer’s had progressed to the point where it wasn’t safe to leave him alone. She retired early to take care of him. By 2023, she and her daughter had been trading off round-the-clock care for more than three years.
That spring, Monica attended a caregiver support meeting at her local senior center. …At first, she only half paid attention. She’d never considered bringing in someone besides family to help with Gerry.
Then she heard her own words echoed back at her: “You can’t do it alone.”
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Knowledge is power: That’s one of HopeHealth’s core messages for caregivers. When dementia caregivers understand how their loved one’s disease is progressing, and what they can and cannot control, it helps everyone’s quality of life. Our dementia expert shares this resource to harness the power of music.
Results:
Website: 3,107 views + 10,779 interactions
Facebook: 92 likes + 9 shares
Reader comment: “Beautiful story”
See the response on Facebook.
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Excerpt:
“Despite all the cognitive issues that dementia causes, a person with dementia can still learn new things. If you use songs consistently, they can learn that routine — and it helps ease their stress and anxiety, because they know what’s coming next,” says HopeHealth clinical educator Lisa Wasson, RN, CHPN, CMDCP.
Caregiver support
Family caregivers often feel overwhelmed, alone and unsure where to turn for help. Our blog offers hope and solidarity from people who understand — plus simple tips that caregivers can put to use right away.
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One of the greatest comforts we can offer caregivers is the reassurance that they are not alone — and access to support services like hospice. This couple’s story is a beautiful example of that journey.
Results:
Website: 229 views + 641 interactions
Facebook: 19 likes + 5 shares
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Excerpt:
“It was intimidating. As soon as I heard the word hospice, I thought it meant very close to end of life. Back then, I had a totally different perception of what hospice was… Now, I have to say that it is the best thing that we have done.”
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Caregivers are experts on taking care of their loved ones, but often struggle to take care of themselves.
Abigail Caron, HopeHealth palliative care nursing fellow, shares original strategies from her fellowship.
Results:
Website: 733 views + 2,070 interactions
Facebook: 52 likes + 7 comments + 10 shares
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Excerpt:
In moments of extreme stress, it’s all but impossible to think clearly. That certainly includes the experience of caregiver burnout, which can show up as anger, sadness or sheer exhaustion. If you’re approaching a breaking point — or are already there — it helps to have a strategy in place.
Abby’s plan: Think of the phrase “Burn it.”
B: Be right back. “Leave the situation if it’s too much,” says Abby. “Find a way to go and clear your head.” For many families, this means enlisting an organization like HopeHealth to come to the house regularly, building in opportunities for a break.
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Grief support
Grief can be one of life’s most challenging experiences, but it’s not widely talked about. We share strategies for every stage of the grief journey, and stories about the healing power of support services.
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Results highlights:
Website: 1,556 views + 4,736 interactions
Facebook: 141 likes + 9 comments + 8 shares
Reader comment: “What a beautiful story!”
See the heartwarming response on Facebook.
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Excerpt:
In the months since, John’s been to the cemetery a few times to visit his father’s grave. He’s been reflecting more on their relationship and the lessons he can take from it, including how he approaches parenting with his own kids.
That first conversation with Richard was a turning point.
“It helped me frame my father’s life,” John says. Sitting at the foot of his father’s hospice bed, he’d found himself telling Richard how his father had a difficult childhood: “He didn’t have it easy. You realize that nobody gets through life undefeated,” he said.
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Results:
Website: 755 views + 2,173 interactions
Facebook: 80 likes + 4 comments + 3 shares
Reader comment: “This was a great project! … I try to listen to my playlist at least once each week, though it may bring some tears - I find it’s cathartic for me.”
See the response on Facebook.
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Excerpt:
Later that evening, in a quiet moment by herself, Sue pulled up Spotify and typed “change” into the search bar.
She watched as song titles tumbled down the screen. When her eyes fell on “Landslide,” she clicked on a version by The Chicks, a band with a bluegrass vibe that she and her husband both loved. She closed her eyes and listened the way she and Diana had talked about — to how the instruments layered on top of one another; to how the rhythm synched up with her own heartbeat; to the way the music reflected the emotions inside of her.
The sad harmonies. The wistful guitar. The lyrics: “Well, I’ve been afraid of changing / ‘Cause I’ve built my life around you…” And amid all that heartache, something else too: courage to face the unknown.
She added it to her playlist.
& more
The HopeHealth blog also features information for healthcare workers, insights into special patient populations like veterans, and profiles of our amazing team and volunteers.
Closing thoughts
In 2024, HopeHealth’s small but mighty team churned out 35 in-depth blogs spanning the above categories and beyond.
We are proud of the information and hope that these resources offer to families and healthcare workers in our community.
We are especially grateful to the dozens of individuals who made it all possible: the HopeHealth team members, patients and families who trusted us to share their stories.