Facing Death with Love

Your love brings warmth to those facing death.

Pasted on the bulletin board in the office of Heart of Hope where thank-you letters are posted is an offering of a $50 check made payable to “x Volunteer.” This non-negotiable check tells of a moving story of friendship between a telephone care volunteer and a sick and poor single parent….

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Nationwide toll-free telephone hotline 1-888-663-8585 to provide emotional support for seriously ill patients and their family caregivers
A group of trained and supervised Mandarin- or Cantonese-speaking volunteers provide compassionate listening ears to patients with serious illness and their caregivers. This free hotline service is available during the office hours (Monday - Friday, 9 am - 5 pm).

Nationwide telephone conference in Mandarin for health-related education
A nationwide toll-free teleconference (presented in Mandarin) for Chinese patients with serious illnesses and their family caregivers is scheduled on the third Thursday of every month, 6-7 pm (Pacific Time). Registered callers can learn about elderly care, serious illnesses and related issues at the comfort of their homes. Each teleconference includes a 35-minute presentation by an expert of the subject and a 20-minute Q&A session for callers to interact with the speaker.

Purpose: Through sharing of personal experience, video watching, practicing communication skills, discussion of cancer-related information, and other creative activities, Rainbow Support Group seeks to provide emotional and spiritual support to people with breast or gynecologic cancers, whether they are in treatment or recovery. Group members will receive mutual encouragement and comfort to face their own struggles and challenges.

Target group: Females with breast or gynecologic cancers (such as cervical, ovarian, uterine, and vaginal). All patients in treatment, in remission, or in late stage (still self-dependent) are welcome; Date: March 2018 -  January 2019 (3rd Wed of the month) Time: 10:30am -12:30pm; Location: Heart of Hope Asian American Hospice Care, 1922 The Alameda, Suite 215, San Jose, CA 95126 (Parking entrance by McKendrie St, accessible by VTA bus #22)

Registration: Call 1-408-986-8584 to register in advance

Heart of Hope Asian American Hospice Care has published a bilingual Chinese/English "Waving Goodbye in Love - The Last Journey in My Life" to provide education to terminally ill patients and family members. This handbook is written by Blanche Chen, LCSW, Co-Founder, and Pauline Nee, RN, Advisor, of the hospice. The handbook uses a first person's narration of a terminally ill patient to describe the changes taking place in the body, mind, and spirit of the last 6 months in life.

Death is inevitable, but for terminally ill patients actually facing it, the process is not an easy one. Most people fear of suffering and loneliness, and some people felt it is hopeless. Due to language and cultural barriers, many Chinese and Asian American terminally ill patients failed to make full use of the best resources, hospice care, which is available in the mainstream society for terminally ill patients and family members.

If you would like to financially support Heart of Hope Asian American Hospice Care with cash donation, appreciated stocks or property, life insurance, or bequest, please contact (408)986-8584. Checks can be made and sent to Heart of Hope Asian American Hospice Care, 1922 The Alameda, Suite 215, San Jose, CA 95126. Heart of Hope Asian American Hospice Care will issue receipts to donors for tax purpose.

What is hospice care? Hospice care refers to care given to a patient when medical treatment cannot offer a cure nor can it prevent further deterioration of the patient’s disease. The life expectancy of the patient may be less than six months. Under these circumstances, hospice care is given to alleviate the symptoms for the patient, and provide emotional support, spiritual and social care for both the patient and his/her family in order to improve their quality of life. Hospice Care neither hastens nor postpones death, but assists and supports the patient and family till the natural end of life. Hospice care has been practiced in the US for more than forty years and many ethnic groups have benefited from this. However, many Asians and Chinese are still quite unfamiliar with the concepts of hospice care and the resources which it offers, due to the cultural tendency to avoid the subject of death.