Finish the following sentence:
Life is meant to be …
We’re all different, so responses could vary. We won’t all fill in the blank with the word enjoyed, but some of us might finish it with something along the lines of:
- productive,
- filled with love,
- courageous, or
- a wild adventure!
I doubt any of my dear readers would finish the sentence with merely tolerated. Since we know we can do better than a merely tolerable existence, certainly enjoyment is something we believe we should experience some degree of in our lives. As hospice social workers, we also want enjoyment for our patients and the people they care about.
When I interviewed for my current hospice social work position, I was asked what’s different about me as a social worker. I explained that among the standard priorities for patients (ease, tranquility, harmony, and other words for “psychosocial comfort”), I prioritize fun. The director who would soon hire me told me she found that an interesting response.
I explained to her that fun is important for hospice patients. The desire for fun can indicate that necessities are met. It can also be a signal to take a break from focusing on necessities. Healthy young adults don’t only focus on what they need, but also on what they want and what they like. Why should elderly individuals or people with terminal diagnoses only be encouraged to focus on what they need?
More importantly, what people consider fun or entertaining may be important for what it symbolizes. A weekend at a resort for a patient and his wife is more than just a “weekend away.” For a movie buff, continuing to watch interesting movies can mean more than just mindlessly passing the time. Having a live band play music in your backyard can facilitate some beautiful emotional resolution, depending on the meaning the songs have for the patient.
Welcome to the fun side of hospice social work
We now delve into the more fun elements of hospice social work: enrichment. We’ll look at how we can attend to psychosocial necessities while looking for ways to facilitate enjoyment when appropriate.
In the following sections, we’ll look at eliciting ideas of what patients will enjoy, and how to accommodate their ideas. We’ll look at:
- developing our own programs,
- using established programs, or
- prompting a professional or a hobbyist in the community to facilitate some specific event or activity.
The first step is to elicit what people want beyond their most basic needs. This can be challenging, depending on the level of physical and emotional discomfort the patient and family are experiencing. This first step will be the topic of our next article. See you then!