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Correcting oversight for end of life care
Caregiver Revolution: 5 Easy Steps to Enlightened Caregiving
By Grant Abrams & Patricia Elizabeth
(Gateway Books and Tapes: 172 pp.; $19.95)
Reviewed by Davida Katherine Maron
Containing many ingredients for what creates a good life, this little book can be taken as a recipe for living for all of us. The greater part of this recipe is outlined in five sections: Get Organized and Take Care of The Basics, Manage Your Stress, Strengthen Your Caregiver Presence, Help Those in Transition, and Provide Spiritual Care & Support.
Remaining present is emphasized throughout the pages. Mindfulness, Higher Attention, and Presence are given importance. The caregiver is urged to pay attention to the words of the dying and what they are trying to convey, so often not done. Emphasis is placed on empowering the 'caree' and, again, how this might be done. At the same time, the caregiver is urged to take care of herself, so as to be most effective and least stressed. Behaviors and actions one might use to accomplish these goals are outlined. While its organization is sometimes confusing and overlapping, this 'how to' book is over all an excellent guide.
There are many books written for and about caregivers. This one is unique in that its emphasis is on end of life care. We are reminded immediately in the introduction: “Caregiving is usually relegated to being a secondary activity, a burden, and the end of life is seen as a depressing, difficult time. We have found the opposite. Caregiving can be a positive, life-changing experience. The end of life can be a time of spiritual growth and, believe it or not, opportunity.” When the co-author, Patricia Elizabeth, was asked about this, she said, “that it is because end of life is so denigrated and diminished in our culture that they have addressed The Caregiver Revolution towards righting this significant oversight.”
Ceremonies of passage, prayer, positive thoughts and talking about death, are all part of treatment. For some readers the mystical and metaphysical orientation of the rituals may be a bit too extreme. There are ten steps to doing a reading ritual. Preparation requires the assembly of certain materials. These include a text to be read (for example, a Book of The Dead), a picture of the person for whom one is reading, a candle, incense, a bell, bowl of grain, bowl of water, matches, and an empty dish for the burnt matches.
The book ends with a workshop on preparing for death, recommended for the caregiver who desires to become a professional. Again, this workshop is something from which anyone of us can benefit, without ever becoming a caregiver. Soon enough, each one of us makes this transition and the more prepared we are, the more pleasant and reassuring our transition.
Davida Katherine Maron writes, edits, and teaches. Her published works include non-fiction articles on various subjects and a definitive book on legal clinics. She is presently writing a children's book of adventures.
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