by: Kim West, PhD

New Heart Publishing (September 10, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0984052666

ISBN-13: 978-0984052660

When your loved one is dying at home you need emotional support and guidance, caregiving help and lessons, organization assistance, an expert adviser and a cherished friend. Peaceful Passage is all of this and more.

From first hearing the news to well beyond the funeral you will keep this resource close by you to give you answers at three in the morning, for encouragement every day and for detailed information on what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Here is guide for you to care well for yourself, your dying loved one, your family, marriage, career and in your spiritual life. 

This book is a labor of love from a professional counselor who cared for her own mother in her final days. One hospice described the book as, "An exceptional tool and resource for anyone assisting a loved one going through their final journey. A delightful, heartfelt, open discussion of processes, tips and things to ponder when traveling with them. Well done, and I applaud you. Thank you from all of us."

IN THE PAGES WITHIN, YOU'LL FIND PRACTICAL GUIDELINES FOR:

Unlike other books that focus on one part of the process, Peaceful Passage is your essential, all-in-one guide to handling every aspect of this often heart-wrenching and heartwarming journey. Use it to help ease the burden of your loved one's final passage, while making it a peaceful - and, yes, even joyous - one.

Link to the Table of Contents

About The Author

Kim West holds a PhD in Clinical Pastoral Counseling and a M.Div. in Counseling and Family, but when her own mother became ill with terminal cancer she found that she had no hands-on knowledge of how to take care of her.

As a counselor she knew to journal her own experience to help her process her grief at losing her mother and she knew how to help her mother finish her life well and be prepared for the life to come. But the day-to-day of taking care of her mother as she died would require learning a whole new set of caring skills. And learn she did.

After completing her own journey with her mother she knew she had to help others who would travel this same path. Peaceful Passage is a merging of her years of counseling experience and the new skills she learned caring for her mother combined with her heart to help and to heal.

Kim's website

Connect with Kim on Facebook

Purchase Peaceful Passage  here.

Review:

As a former CNA for Hospice, I was very interested in reading this book.  So many times books like this are full of basic information.  I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of information included in this handy little book - from realizing that there is no cure for the person in question, to their eventual passing.  This is a passage that affects not only the patient, but the caregiver and family as well.

Even as someone who has done this over and over with patients, I found it to be extremely educational.

This isn't a 'feel good' type of book, instead it is practical and realistic as to what you and your loved one will be facing.  And yet at the same time it's an easy read and easily understandable. The author includes her very personal journey caring for her mother at the end of her life. There are many decisions that you and your loved one will need to make regarding their end of life treatment and care.  Kim West discusses these decisions and gives you ideas as to the options that you'll have.  She even includes workbook pages at the end, as well as journaling pages to document the choices you make.

This book is for everyone - caregiver and patient alike.  It will help anyone have a better understanding of the end of life process , both the physical and emotional aspects of it.  Peaceful Passage helps the entire family navigate the ups and downs of this emotional time, including after the loved one's passing.

I heartily recommend that everyone have a copy of this book on their shelves.  It's an invaluable resource to navigating this time in life.