Diane, End of Life Doula

01/28/2026

Using brightly colored bowls, particularly red or blue, can increase food intake by up to 25% for individuals with dementia. High-contrast colors help overcome diminished visual contrast sensitivity and depth perception, allowing them to better distinguish food from the dish. Simple, solid colors without busy patterns or glare work best to reduce visual confusion.
Why Colored Bowls Help
Enhanced Contrast: As dementia progresses, visual perception changes, making it difficult to differentiate food from white plates (e.g., mashed potatoes on white).
Increased Intake: Studies show a 25% increase in food consumption with red plates, and up to 84% more fluids when using high-contrast, colored drinkware.
Improved Focus: Solid, bright colors (red, blue, bright yellow) help users focus on the food itself, rather than becoming distracted by patterns.
Recommended Colors and Usage
Red Dishes: Often the best choice for providing high contrast against both light and dark backgrounds.
Blue Dishes: Highly recommended because blue is rare in natural food, providing maximum contrast with most meals.
Yellow Dishes: Good for contrasting with green foods.
Color Matching: Use bright plates for pale foods (rice, potatoes) and light-colored plates for dark foods (meat, chocolate).
Other Tips for Mealtime
Avoid Patterns: Busy patterns or glossy finishes can cause confusion or glare.
Use Functional Design: Specialized sets like Eatwell feature slanted bottoms and high contrast to assist with self-feeding.
Simplify the Table: Keep the table setting simple to reduce distraction.
Add Utensils: High-contrast or built-up utensils can help with gripping and maneuvering food.

01/28/2026

Here's a reel that I just love. It shows what I do as an end of life doula

12/05/2025

A bed bath.

As I'm filling up the basin with water this morning and gathering supplies, I start to think how the circle of life is happening. You give a baby a bath and some, like me have given them in the kitchen sink. Now I'm filling this basin up with soap and wash cloths to give a bed bath to a hospice client.

The circle of life. Morning thoughts on caring for our young and our old. Caregiving.

09/27/2025

A heartwarming story ❤️

09/08/2025

Singapore needs 20-30% more hospice staff workers as their population ages.

Interesting...I'm curious what US stats are.

The Singapore Hospice Council warns the sector needs at least 20 to 30 per cent more home hospice staff as the population ages.

09/07/2025

You’ve seen it in movies or in the news: Sweethearts married for decades die within a few days of each other. People call it “broken heart syndrome,” and it’s real.

Link⤵️
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/can-you-die-broken-heart?ecd=soc_fb_250519_cons_ref_brokenheartsyndrome&linkId=100000365400988&fbclid=IwdGRjcAMq5SZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlcZvTL7cY4OYObNhkElBGZI2q0BQ5DJaNnm1HR_ogi6KHC6Z1UV1AFZHsY-_aem_M-LcI0JumIwu9NVimp-_oA

09/01/2025

🌟 Empowering caregivers with compassionate hospice & dementia strategies.



🕊️ Practical tools to reduce stress, honor dignity & navigate challenges. Lifeline for meaningful moments.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZ1B6851?binding=paperback&linkCode=sl2&tag=nursingtips0d-20&linkId=0716a7ffbff7a0590aec0a49eb7cd543&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&fbclid=IwdGRjcAMiy6RjbGNrAyLLkGV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAAEdCz3pjFUeJW9Xgz8Cn5w8Vt5hslgjxBWNYCjCuL7ZtJqDy55VS3KFnXz7_aem_hx9TNrVbAY649vVEJWlyVg

Care Planner: Organize, Communicate, and Provide Consistent Care at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGFPXLF?&linkCode=sl1&tag=nursingtips0d-20&linkId=bbb9dcfbb12a041d6f6f59c5ad9e0cc3&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&fbclid=IwdGRjcAMiy61jbGNrAyLLqGV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAAEd3cPLjV8Ni1HZdXkOTSZR1CeWo8SCbH6oIjEQKaIo37hMC7WTUCP1GHOy_aem_gfOoDHRm6RO67xjvyQ_aNQ

08/15/2025

Taking care of hospice clients daily you don't always see the weighloss.

Yet this morning with one of my clients I noticed the hip bones were becoming more noticeable. Their clothing becoming more loose. I notified the hospice nurse.

Yet on a good note, my client is still in good spirits.

06/22/2025

Documentation from a published case study:

Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS) is rare and was first reported in 1978.[1] and is signified by purple discoloration of the urine usually seen in women and chronically debilitated patients with long term indwelling urinary catheters.[2,3] PUBS can be distressing for patients, family members and healthcare workers who are unaware of this association. This condition is often associated with urinary tract infection. Discolouration of the urine bag is due to the presence of indigo and indirubin pigments which precipitate and react with the synthetic materials of the catheter and urinary bag.

06/20/2025

This PDF is intended for caregivers to help them understand the key risks associated with the most common diagnoses that may lead to either palliative care—comfort care without the need for a prognosis, allowing the patient to receive aggressive treatment—or hospice care, which requires a terminal prognosis for comfort care.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f3vaLG5p_y78FTJrC4JkvQ3MtEkAQXah/view?usp=drivesdk

05/10/2025

When you die, don't worry about your body...
Your relatives and funeral staff will do it. I know this first hand. I’ve done it myself…

They will take you out of the house and deliver you to the funeral home of your family’s choice.
They will take off your clothes
They will wash you
They will dress you up
They will even apply makeup to make you look presentable
Many will come to the funeral to honor you.
Some will even cancel their plans and ask for leave to go to the funeral.

Your things--things you hate to be borrowed will be sold, donated or burned.
Your keys
Your tools
Your books
Your CDs, DVDs, games
Your collections
Your clothes...

And be sure the world won't stop and cry for you.
The economy will continue.
You will be replaced in work. Someone with the same or even better ability will take your place.

Your property will switch to heirs.
And don't doubt the small and big things you have done in your life will be spoken of, judged, doubted and criticized.

People who only knew your face will say, ′′Poor thing!"

Your good friends will cry for a few hours or several days, but then they will laugh again.

Your pets will get used to the new owner.

Your pictures will be hanging on the wall for a while, then they will be put on furniture and finally stored at the bottom of the box.

Someone else will sit on your couch and eat from it.

Deep pain in your home will last a year, two, maybe ten... Then you will join the memories and then your story will end.

It will end among people, end here, end in this world.

But your story begins in a new reality... in your life after death.

The things you once have will lose their meaning. You cannot bring your earthly possessions here.

the beauty of your body
last name
property
loans
working position
bank account
the house
the car
academic titles
Classmates
trophies
Friends of the world
man / woman
the kids
the family...

In your new life, you will only need your soul.
The only property that will last is the soul......................................................................................

The big question is: Do you know where your soul is going after this life is over?

Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

The Bible is clear that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3).

John 3:18 explains in the simplest terms who will go to heaven and who will go to hell: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." So, those who go to hell are specifically those who do not believe in Jesus’ name.

Simply, if you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, by grace alone, through faith alone, you will spend eternity in heaven. If you do not receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will be eternally separated from God (Matthew 25:46).

The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

We can choose to trust in Jesus’ payment for our sin, or we can choose to pay for our sins ourselves—but we must remember that the payment for our sin is eternity in hell.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31)

04/25/2025

“When the Hummingbird Came”
The day after she passed, the wind was still.
No song. No movement. Just silence.

But then, from the garden she once loved,
a hummingbird appeared —
tiny, glowing, alive with light.
It hovered in place, looking into the window,
as if waiting.

The elders say:

“When a hummingbird lingers, it carries the breath of someone you’ve loved.”

It did not speak, but I heard her.
Not in words, but in feeling.
In the way the wings moved — quick like her laughter.
In the way it stayed — gentle like her hands.
In the way it disappeared — quiet, like her goodbye.

Now, when I see a hummingbird, I smile.
Because I know:
Some love never leaves.
It just learns how to fly.

🙏🙏Please message me with the image you’re referring to, and I’ll gladly send you the poster link!