Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes | 
| Author: Frances Shani Parker
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $12.02
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 841319
Media: Paperback
Edition: First Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 212
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 1932690352
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.175609774
EAN: 9781932690354
ASIN: 1932690352
Publication Date: August 1, 2007
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Condition: new
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
All of us are entitled to the rewards of a peaceful, pain-free death. This book honors that with true stories about hospice patients and inspiring insights from the author. Becoming Dead Right guides us through the general and "how to" information maze that prepares us for dealing with death. Improving and expanding hospice services will require systemic changes in healthcare institutions, outreach to diverse populations, and funding. With the inclusion of hospice programs in nursing homes, dying with dignity becomes even more important. Millions of aging baby boomers heighten the urgency for better hospice care and conditions in nursing homes.
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| Customer Reviews:
Becoming Dead Right December 31, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As much as we tend to "tip-toe" around end-of-life matters with family and friends, Parker however takes the reader on a warm and touching journey with "loud and clear" steps about what she calls, "The Other Side of Through." Throughout the book, you can't help but reflect on your life situation wherever you may be on life's timeline. It is a must-read for those thousands of "baby boomers" like me because 1. We are entering that phase of our life where, quite frankly, we begin to seriously think about our own mortality and all that that means, and 2. Many of us have had to be, or will face the very likely possibility of being, a care-giver to a loved one. "Being Dead Right" answers so many questions on the issues of hospice care almost from A-Z and is told in a very readable, informative and humane way. In her book, Parker indeed lets full sun shine on a topic long lain hid. Excellent job.
 Francis Shani Parker Does it Right December 13, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Let's face it: Becoming Dead Right is a startling use of double entendre. It grew on me as a reader, since ultimately there's no time that straight talk is more required than at, and about, end of life. Placing judgement aside, "wrong" ways of dying have detrimental effects on patient-families; "right" ways of dying make end days as humane as can be, for both the dying and their survivors.
Humaneness is the critical quality that is often misplaced or absent from critical care. Parker's humanity is palpable. Every school principal must imbue it (even if half her kids may go to their own graves in denial of their school principal's humanity), so it's no surprise she would manifest it as a hospice worker and writer.
Yet I was surprised, and touched, and bolstered. As a writer on end-of-life matters, I expect others who write on dying and death to do so with great dignity, empathy, and poise. The subject requires it. So why my surprise? I think it stems from several directions.
- Poetry. If inuendo has no place in end-of-life conversations, and metaphor ignites understanding as it relieves duress, poetry occupies a middle ground. Parker's inclusion of personal poems throughout adds a a poignant, exploratory dimension to her narrative.
- Cultural mileu #1: Inside the Looking Glass. Reading messages that emanate from inside hospice differs from reading information about hospice. Parker gives us the real deal, distinct from intellectual abstraction (no matter how important the latter may be when the subject is end-of-life choices). Parker's "person-studies" help explain, in a very accessible manner, what hospice offers.
- Cultural mileu #2: Race. For those of us outside the black community, Becoming Dead Right offers a glimpse into the human fabric that makes Black America rich in ways that are intrinsic to their unique identity as a people. The glimpse arises naturally, through the telling. It's subtle, and probably unintentional--making this book all the more valuable.
And if Parker can help manifest her vision of Boomer Haven on a national scale, I'd queue up when it's my turn--even if I wasn't already predisposed.
-- Bart Windrum, author of Notes from the Waiting Room: Managing a Loved One's End-of-Life Hospitalization
Unless you're planning not to die, plan to read this book. October 13, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book was enlightning and a pleasure to read. I found it difficult to put down. Each of many patient related stories told was captivating and conveyed significant and often imperative messages. Comprehensive, insightful, empathetic, amusing, comforting and instructive are all applicable adjectives. Becoming Dead Right is a gift of sagacity to us all.
Powerful and Enlightening!! October 2, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed the book, "Becoming Dead Right." The book was powerfully written and allowed the reader to feel the joys, frustrations, excitement and pain of the men and women in Hospice Care. My favorite part was the poems that were peppered in throughout the book that gave the book an extra special touch. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a book that puts a story and face with the people in Hospice Care.
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