Becoming Dead Right

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is the captivating account of Frances Shani Parker’s hospice volunteer insights and experiences in Detroit, Michigan nursing homes. This universal book includes stories, general information, and original poems that explore hospice care, nursing homes, caregiving, dementia, death preparations, and bereavement. Strategies for improving healthcare and nursing homes are examined. School-nursing home partnerships are covered. The often-missing voices of people of color are included. Praise for Becoming Dead Right “A school principal and hospice volunteer, Frances Shani Parker relates her experiences with dying people in nursing homes. The second part of her book is about what we as individuals and as a society must do to improve things for those who are dying. I particularly enjoyed the guided tour, conducted from a wheelchair, of Baby Boomer ‘Haven’.” — Dr. Roger Woodruff, Director of Palliative Care, International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia “The writing is eloquent and powerful, and the stories are instructive and lasting.
After finishing this book, I wanted to do more for other individuals who are dying, for as Ms. Parker so clearly imparts, the dying teach us so much about living well.” — Dr. Peter A. Lichtenberg, Director, Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan “This book is filled with poetry, stories, wisdom and common sense that can help boomers, students, caregivers and policy makers understand their own aging and realize that our society can—and should—make important changes that can ensure safe, dignified, individualized care at the end of our lives.” — Alice Hedt, Executive Director, National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform Learn more at www.BecomingDeadRight.com From the “Aging With Grace” Series at Loving Healing Press (www.LovingHealing.com) MED042000 Medical : Terminal Care FAM017000 Family & Relationships : Eldercare SOC036000 Social Science : Death & Dying

Author Biography

Frances Shani Parker is an award-winning writer, consultant, and former school principal. A hospice volunteer for many years in Detroit nursing homes, Parker is author of Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes. With stories, poems, and general information, she presents a captivating account of her experiences and insights on hospice, nursing homes, caregiving, dementia, death, and bereavement. A groundbreaking book with national endorsements, Becoming Dead Right includes universal perspectives, particularly the often-missing voices of people of color. An ongoing advocate for older adults, eldercare, and nursing home reform, Parker works with several organizations serving this population. She serves on the board of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She writes a blog about hospice, nursing homes, eldercare, and older adults in general. Her blog is Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog. As an educator, Parker has consulted in school districts locally and nationally on service-learning, a teaching and learning approach that connects classroom learning with meeting community needs. Among many service-learning projects, she created successful research-based intergenerational partnerships between schools and nursing homes. She includes a chapter on these partnerships in Becoming Dead Right. Parker has been honored with the Service-Learning Trailblazer Award presented by the National Service-Learning Partnership. Other honors include the Outstanding Education Administrator Award presented by the Metropolitan Detroit Alliance of Black School Educators, and the Educator of the Year Award presented by the Wayne State University Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, an international, professional fraternity for educators. Her writing has received awards from Writer’s Digest, the Poetry Society of Michigan, the Detroit Writer’s Guild, Broadside Press, and the New Orleans Public Library. Parker’s website is www.FrancesShaniParker.com. Peter A. Lichtenberg, Ph.D. is the Director of both the Institute of Gerontology and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and the Founding Director of the Wayne State University Lifespan Alliance. Dr. Lichtenberg is also a Professor of Psychology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is a clinical psychologist and obtained his Ph.D. at Purdue University in 1986 and completed post doctoral training in geriatric neuropsychology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Lichtenberg received his diplomate in Rehabilitation Psychology in 1997. Dr.Lichtenberg has been at Wayne State University since 1991 first as the Associate Director of Psychology at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan and since 1998 as the Director of the Institute of Gerontology.