First Time Visitors

To the clergy

What do I do now? Often, you hear this from members of your congregation after they receive a life-limiting diagnosis from their doctor. They seek your spiritual guidance to help make appropriate choices for end-of-life care.

As part of our ongoing educational program to expand understanding of hospice care in your community, we will be encouraging them to ask you the following questions.

• Why did God choose to put this disease in our path?
• What happens during the dying process and at the time of death?
• What happens after death?
• What's the best way to accept what's happening without "giving up" or "giving in" to the disease?
• When is it appropriate to consider hospice care?
• Does choosing to have hospice care violate any moral or ethical issues?
• Which local hospice providers do you recommend, and why?

• Patients and their families
• Hospitals, nursing homes, and care facility administrators
• Insurance agents and case managers
• Doctors
• Nurses
• Counselors
• Therapists
• The clergy
• Lawyers
• Accountants
• Pharmacists
• Civic leaders