As Baby Boomers Enter Later Years, New Book Helps Families Face End of Life with Less Fear
As millions of Baby Boomers enter their later years, questions about caregiving, hospice and end-of-life wishes are becoming increasingly relevant to families across the country. Few conversations are harder for families than those about death and end-of-life care. A new book addresses these challenges by offering practical guidance drawn from direct experience.
For Paula Wrenn those questions became deeply personal during her husband Jim’s two-year hospice journey. Initially afraid of death, Jim gradually came to face the end of his life with courage, peace and even joy. Before he died, he asked Paula to share what they had learned so that other families might face the end of life with less fear, the comfort of knowing what to expect and more time for what matters most.
Wrenn honored that wish by asking Jim’s hospice nurse Jo Gustely to contribute to writing the book, combining the intimate perspective of a family caregiver with the professional insight of a hospice nurse. The book offers an unusually close look at the same end-of-life experience from both sides.
Rather than focusing solely on death, the guide explores how thoughtful preparation, communication and compassionate care can help families make the most of the time they have together. The authors explain what to expect during the natural dying process, how hospice supports both patients and caregivers, and how families can begin difficult conversations before a crisis occurs. The book also challenges the misconception that choosing hospice means giving up.
Wrenn said she was inspired watching Jim grow from a person worried about dying to someone facing end-of-life with courage and positivity. Both of them credited his hospice experience with making his end of life meaningful, even joyful. Caregiving for a loved one is challenging and stressful at times, but the rewards are immeasurable, she added.
For more than twenty-five years Wrenn worked as a freelance writer for businesses, newspapers and magazines. Older adults, caregiving, aging well and hospice are among the topics she covered, drawing on earlier experiences as an elder-care business owner and a long-standing volunteer for organizations serving seniors. She also served as chairman of her local federally qualified healthcare center and has assisted several members of her family through the transition from life to peaceful death.
Gustely earned her BSN from Emory University. Since 1985 she has worked as a post-surgical nurse, home care nurse, corporate occupational nurse and public health nurse. She became a hospice nurse in 2005. As a child she was fascinated by taboo subjects including séances, death and true ghost stories. She later changed careers from ESL teacher to nursing after obtaining a BA from UC Berkeley. For her, hospice provides a perfect balance of challenges and benefits, including the opportunity to interact with different cultures and work alongside inspiring team members from different disciplines outside the hospital setting. She has witnessed many awe-inspiring moments of psycho-spiritual renewal for clients nearing the end of life.
Dying Well with Hospice: A Compassionate Guide to End-of-Life Care is published by Amans Vitae Press with ISBN-13 978-0692945087 and is available from Amazon as paperback and eBook.
