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The Heart of Hospice Podcast

The Heart of Hospice Podcast

By: Hosted by Helen Bauer BSN RN CHPN
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About this listen

The Heart of Hospice podcast is dedicated to helping personal and professional caregivers who are caring for someone with serious illness. We're here to provide information and education so people can make informed choices about end of life care.

Copyrighted Hygiene & Healthy Living Physical Illness & Disease Social Sciences
Episodes
  • How to Be a Badass Advocate For Your Loved One

    How to Be a Badass Advocate For Your Loved One
    Jan 9 2026
    Anyone with a serious illness needs a strong advocate who has their back and makes sure their needs are met. Erin Galyean did that for her sister, learning on the job how to be an advocate as a caregiver. When her sister became ill with cancer and a serious lung disease, Erin became a long-distance champion for her sister’s care. Her book Badass Advocate: Becoming The Champion Your Seriously Ill Loved One Deserves covers everything from building a support team for both the caregiver and the patient, to asking doctors effective questions to get the real answers you need. Erin’s advice doesn’t stop there - she encourages every caregiver to learn to find the balance in being both compassionate and assertive as a caregiver. Although Erin’s online Empowered Advocate Community has since shut down, every caregiver can benefit from hearing her caregiving story, and from buying her book. Find your copy of Badass Advocate: Becoming The Champion Your Seriously Ill Loved One Deserves here. Links for Erin Galyean: Badass Advocate Book Badass Advocate Website Socials for Erin Galyean: LinkedIn TikTok Facebook Instagram YouTube Find all of Barbara Karnes’ products and resources at bkbooks.com. Read Barbara’s blog at bkbooks.com. Socials for Barbara Karnes: Facebook IG LinkedIn Twitter (X) YouTube Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com. Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.
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    47 mins
  • How to Live Well by Learning What Matters Most

    How to Live Well by Learning What Matters Most
    Jan 2 2026
    End of Life Doula Diane Button has been taught how to live well by caring for the dying. Her life’s work has been to support people to find meaning, comfort, joy, and peace in life and in death. One of the biggest influences on how Diane lives was her Grandpa Charlie, and she continues to be inspired by how he lived his life. Diane has collected stories and wisdom from every person for whom she’s provided care while they were dying. In 2022, during the pandemic, Diane wrote an article for Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper that remains widely-read and one of their most popular articles. What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living is her latest book, written at the invitation of Maria Shriver and published by Penguin Random House. It is available everywhere books are sold. Connect with Diane Button: Website: dianebutton.com End-of-Life Doula Website: Bay Area End-of-Life Doula Alliance Instagram: @dianebuttondoula Facebook:facebook.com/diane.button.12 Get your copy of Diane’s book! – What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living Find all of Barbara Karnes’ products and resources at bkbooks.com. Read Barbara’s blog at bkbooks.com. Socials for Barbara Karnes: Facebook IG LinkedIn Twitter (X) YouTube Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com. Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.
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    43 mins
  • Back to Basics: What You Need to Know About Disease Specific Directives

    Back to Basics: What You Need to Know About Disease Specific Directives
    Dec 19 2025

    We’re deep diving into advance care planning with hospice Social Worker Rosie Gaston, talking about diagnosis specific advance directives. With diseases like Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia on the rise, the need to plan for end of life situations for neurodegenerative diagnoses is increasing. It’s hard to predict every scenario, but considering basic care needs and wants is important. Some of the things that should be considered include where the person wants to live out their life, what treatments they want/don’t want, who’ll be the primary caregiver, and how care will be paid for. A dementia specific directive might include directions about treating infections like UTI’s and pneumonia, and choices about feeding, feeding tubes, and VSED options.

    Even though it’s not possible to think of every situation that might happen, it’s important to have conversations about needs, wants, and wishes for end of life. Be specific. Those conversations can make decisions so much easier when a crisis arises later in the disease trajectory. Have the conversations early - and often!

    Connect with Rosie Gaston, MSW, LICSW, APHSW-C: www.ABetterEnding.org Socials for Rosie Gaston: IG

    RESOURCES:

    • End of Life Choices New York dementia advance directive resource
    • Compassion and Choices Dementia Priorities and Values Tool
    • The Conversation Project handout for caregivers for someone with Alzheimer’s and other dementias

    Hospice Navigation Services understands that you need unbiased, expert support to have the best end of life experience possible. And we believe you deserve to get good hospice care. If you have questions about hospice care for yourself or someone you care about, Hospice Navigation Services can help. Whether you want to connect by phone or video, you can book a FREE 30-Minute Hospice Navigation Session, or a more in-depth 60-Minute Navigation Session for $95. If you need to troubleshoot the care you’re already receiving, we’re here to answer your questions. A 60-Minute Navigation Session by video call allows up to 3 family members to get the same expert information at the same time. Book a session with an expert Hospice Navigator at theheartofhospice.com.

    Connect with The Heart of Hospice Podcast and host Helen Bauer Website: theheartofhospice.com Social media: Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Email: helen@theheartofhospice.com More podcast episodes: The Heart of Hospice Podcast

    Podcast host Helen Bauer is a great addition to your event or conference! For speaking inquiries, send an email to helen@theheartofhospice.com.
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins
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